Kingdom Hearts III: Recovering Hearts
by XxOoSolanaSkylarXxOo
Summary: Sora's made his decision: he's going to "reconnect" everything that is connected to his heart, including those who have lost their hearts, along with Riku and Kairi. Can they survive this journey? Who will they meet this time? Pairings included!
1. Prologue: A Tough Decision

_- Hmm, I wonder if this is a Kingdom Hearts fanfiction cliché? Well, I'm starting to think so, since I've read too many of these to count._

_I wanna be a part of the cliché too, so I'll be doing this as well. I chose Disney Movies that weren't mentioned before, and only a couple were brought back. These being the ones that had more than one part to the movie._

_(I know Aladdin has three movies, but I'm sick of Agrabah in Kingdom Hearts. Anybody else?) - _

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_**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. See, that's Square Enix's job, and Disney just takes credit for the world's and character's storylines. While I, the fan, decide I can write too. Ya get it? Got it? GOOD!  
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**|| = Continuing from Kingdom Hearts II Ending & Reconnect: Kingdom Hearts = ||

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_I wanted to tell you immediately. _

_There are memories asleep inside you. _

_Those memory fragments connect to the future. _

_Sora, Riku, Kairi, _

_the truth surrounding the Keyblade, _

_passes through numerous connections, _

_which are inside your hearts. _

_Sora, _

_it all leads to you, and everyone is waiting for you. _

_The only one who can heal their sadness is you. _

_It's possible that the travels up until now, _

_compared to the next trip, may have been easy. _

_Everything thought to be accidental was really connected, _

_and the door to a new departure already seems to be opening. _

_-Mickey

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Cerulean eyes, belonging to the Keyblade Master, scanned the crumpled paper that arrived to the island in a bottle. He was speechless, his throat caught. He was rather confused by the situation, wondering how could he possibly be missing memories, and what made his so special that they connected to the future.

Of course, he didn't doubt the King, not for a second. But, he was rather lost on the situation at hand now. He didn't know what he was going out to find, or whom he was saving this time. Whoever they, and or he or she, is, they must be incredibly important if he was throwing away his plans of being with his two best friends again on their island, never to be separated again.

He couldn't just ignore the King's letter asking for his help, however. He would have to do this. If he didn't now, he would end up regretting it later. And he was increasingly curious as to these "sleeping" memories, and who are the people the King mentioned in the letter.

"Well, Sora?" a strong voice, belonging to one of Sora's best friends, Riku, asked calmly. Sora glanced up at him to see his jade eyes lit up like a light, possibly excited for the journey ahead. Sora was confused by his friend's positive attitude towards this situation, but said nothing, merely because he couldn't if he tried.

Sora felt frozen with indecision, and he focused on the sand in front of him. He didn't dare look up at the disappointment in Riku's eyes, afraid of what he might say if he refused, which was growing into a strong possibility for the spiky-haired teenager.

He could hear a soft sigh from the silver-haired boy, and footsteps fading away from where Sora was standing. A scuffle of footsteps were also heard, and a shout.

"Riku, please!" A feminine voice shouted, the owner of the voice being Kairi, Sora's best friend, who he had a deep, passionate care for, holding her dear to his heart. The thought of losing her support as well as Riku's was too unbearable for Sora, so he decided to delete that possibility from his brain.

He felt a delicate, gentle hand rest on his shoulder. Sora tore his eyes from the sand to look up at Kairi, who smiled warmly at him, her hair blowing about in the breeze. Sora mentally scolded himself for appreciating how pretty she is, especially at a time like this.

"Don't worry about Riku. Just take your time on this Sora, ok? No pressure!" she added, looking panicked, probably thinking she left him with the thought of being pressured by Riku's disapproval of his original answer.

Sora wanted to tell her that when somebody says "No Pressure" it always means there's pressure, and people say that so you can make the right decision, but thought better of it. He watched her walk away in the direction of where Riku stormed off to, and sighed, taking a seat on the Paopu Tree he was sitting on before the life-changing decision floated beside Kairi's feet.

He stared ahead at the water, gently lapping against the shore, whisking away seashells he and Kairi used to collect. This was back when the weight of the world didn't weigh down on his shoulders, when he was positive he would be with his friends forever, and when he had no doubts in his friends.

Riku's eagerness to leave Destiny Islands wasn't too easy to accept for Sora, especially after the things he's done in the past. Sora vowed to himself that he would never let Riku fall into the darkness a second time, and he would be stupid to let Riku leave the islands. Then again, it wouldn't be bright to leave him here; Riku was always better at things than Sora, and he knew this too. Riku wouldn't agree with him anyways, and he would go no matter what. Sora was honestly glad he would, but he felt bad that Kairi would be left alone on the islands.

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**|| = KH_3 = ||**

After several moments of silence, aside from the constant yet soothing noises from the ocean, Sora picked up a new sound, getting closer and closer.

"Sora," a voice called out to him from behind, and Sora whipped his head around to see Riku, slowly making his way down the wooden ramp to the Paopu Tree. His hands were stuffed in his baggy jean pockets, his silver bangs covering his eyes, since he grew his hair over the past year. Riku stopped walking, not sitting on the Paopu Tree with Sora, his eyes staring blankly ahead.

"Have you decided?" Those three words, in the form a question, were the ones Sora was dreading. Flashes of memories from his past adventures, and ones he didn't recall, washed over in his brain, overwhelming him. Sora blinked once, and he was met with the familiar scenery he was originally looking at.

He made his decision: yes. He wasn't doing this just for those lost hearts and drifting souls out there; he had his own answers to discover on this journey, now. Like those unfamiliar flashbacks of a white castle, or a girl in a white dress. There were these three teens, one looking like Roxas, Sora's nobody, one a tall brunette, and a blue-haired girl. So many questions, and he had a feeling this was the journey where he would get his answers.

Sora put a light smile on his face as he nodded, gripping the bottle containing Mickey's message, with a renewed sense of confidence and determination. "Yeah." He answered simply, and Riku said nothing. Sora didn't turn to look at his expression, already knowing what it would look like.

Just then, Kairi appeared, walking up from behind Riku, standing beside him, and turned to face Sora, still sitting on the Paopu Tree. "Sora," she said quietly, her eyes meeting with his. She had on the same smile as before, when she was supporting him. It made Sora feel all the more comfortable with this new journey. Like her letter, it may not be so hard after all. Then, realization hit him: she knew he was leaving her here, on this island. She didn't look that upset, yet Sora felt incredibly awkward and guilty.

"K-Kairi!" he stammered, hopping off the tree, landing on his feet, facing her. Kairi's head was hung low, but she quickly brought it back to face him, her eyes proud of Sora's heroic actions, yet saddened to see him go.

"Yeah." She nodded slowly, her voice still strong, as difficult as it was for her. This was the third time in counting that she has seen Sora separate himself from her. This one stung the most; it was his choice. He could've chosen to stay, but she knew that was selfish thinking of her. But...an idea sparked in her mind, and she held back a smile.

Sora chuckled lightly, happy to see her staying strong. He walked closer to her, his eyes never leaving her face.

"There are still people sad out there. And everyone's waiting...I have to put back everything that's connected to me." His mouth was tumbling out an explanation that he didn't even know his brain knew, and he could hear Riku chuckle, as if he read his thoughts.

Kairi heaved a light sigh, followed up by a slight giggle. She stretched out her hand, holding Sora's in her's, and placing a familiar object in his palm. Sora recognized it as her good luck charm, and he gripped it tightly, showing he wouldn't dare lose it.

"Hurry back," she murmured, and Sora barely heard her, but nodded, showing he understood. Kairi then remembered her idea at the last second, and she quickly grabbed Sora's wrist, preventing him from getting ready with Riku, who was indeed going.

Sora gave her a questioning glance, as did Riku, who was a few feet ahead of Sora on the bridge, turning halfway around to face Kairi and Sora. Kairi held her grin, and let go of Sora's wrist, running to catch up with Riku, while Sora was left behind, confused.

Two words escaped Kairi's mouth: "I'm coming." Sora stood there, staring at her in disbelief, jaw dangling, completely flabbergasted. Riku said nothing, but gasped in shock at Kairi's willingness to leave the islands with them, possibly not making it back here.

"Wh-what?" Sora cried, rushing after her, grabbing her hand. He looked incredibly happy, yet his eyes told a different story. He was concerned for her well-being and safety on this trip, and she was putting herself in harm's way just to come along for a journey she didn't need to be on.

"I'm. Going." She enunciated, pulling her wrist back, walking along, not glancing back to see the reactions of her two friends. She could wield a Keyblade, couldn't she? Not as well as Sora and Riku, yes, but still. This time, she would fight, and prove her worth to them. She wasn't just some damsel in distress, and she certainly wouldn't break the promise she made to herself. She promised they would be together, as a team, and she would never be left behind again. This was a promise she intended on keeping, no matter what the stakes are.

Riku followed Kairi, jamming his hands back into his pockets, and Sora rushed ahead of them, blocking their way from leaving. He spread out his hands, making sure they couldn't sneak past him.

"Kairi this is dangerous! You can come, just make sure you stay sa-" Sora's lecture was cut off by Riku, who looked slightly irritated by Sora's concern.

"Sora, she knows this already. Kairi wouldn't have agreed to come if she didn't know the risk she's making. You're completely oblivious if you don't get why she's doing this." Riku barked, his calm voice losing that same calm exterior, replaced with the short-tempered Riku from last year's adventure. Sora flinched at his tone, but silently agreed, and Kairi nodded her thanks to Riku.

"Sora, I care too much for the both of you to let you guys run off saving the worlds without me. Now, let's get a move on!" She chirped, running over to the secret place, where they would discuss their plans for how to leave this time. Sora rushed after Kairi, and Riku did as well, eventually leading to a race between the two boys, while Kairi trailed behind them.

They were incredibly lucky nobody knows they have returned to the islands. If anyone, even one person, knew this, the trio would be swarmed with questions, concerns, and their parents would certainly get overemotional and catch up on their punishments. They also wouldn't believe a story of how darkness was overpowering the worlds and it was Sora's duty to save them, and Riku, who fell into the darkness, and Kairi, one of the Princesses of Heart. No, that wouldn't work out too well...

The trio was rounding past the bubbling waterfall near the secret place, covered by a bush, not a care in the world, not just yet. They would soon discover things that were left in the past, and abandoned into the darkness. Are they prepared for the shock, the gruesome journey, and more importantly, the darkness ahead of them, lingering in the heart of one of those suffering?

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_- Alright, so that's the prologue! I'm doing a bunch of worlds, of course, and instead of visiting two or three times, its just once, since I have a dozen or more worlds to go to in this. And yes, Kairi is coming along._

_I'm aware of almost everybody's beef with Kairi, so let's fix it in here. I got beef with her too -_-"_

_Any problems with this so far? I hope I'm doing good, and make sure to let me know if you have either a world request or any ideas you want in here. This isn't just my story, it's yours too people!_

_I finished all my school projects too, so I have tons of free time now after school. I still have clubs on Tuesday-Thursday, though. No big deal, really. Cya! -_


	2. Prologue Part 2: Departure

_- Hey guys! What's new in your world? For me, not much. My best friend just left for Florida, gonna miss her, but I'll live. It's only a week._

_Enough about me. I got pretty cool reviews, so I'll say my thanks right now, since there was only a couple reviews that I didn't really have to reply to. THANK YOU SUPPORTIVE PEEPS! Oh, and that idea about Narnia...I LOVE IT! I completely forgot about Narnia, but I'll definitely put that in! Anyways, read on my people! Well, not really my people, since we don't have slaves, but still. -

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_**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, Riku would be my slave...of LOVE! Haha, kidding fellow fangirls. Don't hurt me please! I have so much to live for! *sobs*

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**|| = KH_3 = ||**

Sora sat cross-legged beside Kairi, as did Riku, but on the other side of the wall, where his drawings still remained. Kairi's eyes looked glassy as she reminisced on the times where the three of them would sit in here and sketch quite childish drawings using stones they would find. She even remembered the one where Sora drew her, and she drew him, both of them not doing the other justice. Sora remembered these times two, and he couldn't help but ponder when those times would ever be back. He ditched the thought in the back of his brain, focusing on their next adventure, and more importantly, their plans.

"Are we just gonna sit here?" Riku snapped, his arms folded as he narrowed his eyes at nothing in particular, aside from the ground. His bad mood seemed to be growing, and Sora frowned in worry, but didn't say anything regarding it. He just hoped he would be better on the journey, so there wouldn't be any conflicts. That would be the last thing all three of them needed now.

Kairi nodded, turning back to face the two boys, resting her hands on her knees, while she sat down on the balls of her feet. She didn't smile, but instead, she stared at Riku, concerned etched into her face. She scooted closer to him, moving his bangs from out of his eyes, making Sora's heart pang in...rage? He wasn't jealous of his best friend, that's ridiculous. But still...the feeling remained. Riku continued to narrow his eyes at the pavement, not bothering to give Kairi his eye contact.

"Riku, something's eating away at you. What's up?" Kairi asked gently, and Riku sighed, frustrated. He finally looked at Kairi, his eyes showing annoyance in them, and his lips curved into a frown.

"It's just...I'm having these memories of a girl with black hair...kinda like how your's used to look. I can't see her face because of the hood she wore, but without the hood on, it's just fuzzy. I don't even know her name." Riku sighed miserably, and Kairi put a hand on his broad shoulder in comfort, smiling weakly at him.

"Don't worry. Maybe in this journey, we can figure out all these memories you're having. Right, Sora?" she turned to Sora for support, and she mouthed a "say yes" to him, and Sora nodded, his hair bobbing up and down, then falling back into place. Kairi clearly had no faith in her theory, and she desperately wanted Riku to feel better; she wouldn't allow any sadness in this trip, not this time.

"Right!" Sora agreed happily, flashing a smile at Riku, who nodded, smiling slightly, and sitting back up from his slouching position. Kairi moved back to her original seat near her old drawing of Sora, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Riku fixed his bangs back over his eyes. "Now, let's-" he was cut off by a faint sound of an engine, coming from outside the Secret Place. The trio shared mystefied expressions, each rushing out to see what that noise was. Sora was the first to get out, followed by Riku, then Kairi bringing up the rear.

Sora's eyes were as wide as saucers at the sight in front of him, as were Riku's and Kairi's. Right above the once-calm waters, was a Gummi Ship, the one Sora, Donald, and Goofy used to venture other worlds, hovering above the ocean, making the waves flow about rapidly. Inside the Gummi Ship was King Mickey, controlling the ship, and Donald and Goofy in the passenger seats, waving to Sora, clearly estatic upon seeing their friend again.

Sora rushed over to the ship, flailing his arms around, while Kairi giggled, walking behind him with Riku. That was one of the things she loved about Sora; his cheerful and upbeat attitude, and his ability to quickly move on and not dwell on things.

King Mickey hopped off the ship, which was still floating, and Donald and Goofy followed suit with their King. They gave Sora a quick hug and pulled back behind King Mickey, who gave Riku a friendly wave, which was returned whole-heartedly.

"How did you know we would agree?" Kairi asked in surprise, and the King laughed, looking up at her, since there was a bit of a size difference.

"I knew Sora would put others ahead of himself. He's proved how much he cares about the safety of everyone else and the balance of the worlds. I had faith in him to make the right decision." The King explained, making Sora scratch the back of his head in embarrassment. He had no idea how much the King was relying on him. He would be foolish to have said no to his face when he came upon Sora's original answer.

"Ahyuck, it musta been hard. Leaving his home after just comin' back. Gawrsh Sora, I'm sorry." Goofy apologized sadly, and Sora shook his head, holding up his hands.

"N-no, it's ok, really. So, I guess we better get going then, right?" Sora asked, changing the topic, which didn't go unnoticed, but nobody said a word to this. The King nodded and waved his hand, beckoning the trio to follow him into the Gummi Ship.

Sora remembered the controls all too well, and it felt pretty good to be back in here again. So many memories were made in here, and the feeling of traveling space, jumping world-to-world, was a refreshing feeling of being a hero, and not just some average islander.

The King got in the driver's seat, while Donald and Goofy sat passenger, since there were three seats in the front. There seemed to have been some remodeling in here, due to the increased amount of seats now. There were three more in the back, which were occupied by Sora, Riku, and Kairi; Sora on the right, Kairi in the middle, and Riku on the left. All three looked eager to take off, especially Kairi, gazing around the Gummi Ship with wide eyes, seeing as how she had never been in it before. Riku rested his chin on his hand, looking out the window at the island, while Sora gripped the sides of his chair in anticipation. He had his energy restored.

"Buckle up, 'cause we're stopping at my home first, Disney Castle! I still have some important details to share with you, so let's make it fast, alright?" The King announced, and the three friends nodded, buckling up and sitting back in there seats until they arrived.

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**|| = KH_3 = ||**

King Mickey parked the ship into the Castle's Gummi Ship Garage, where Chip and Dale were awaiting for them to land, and waved their greetings to their King, who nodded in acknowledgement. King Mickey jumped off the ship, landing swiftly on his feet, while Donald and Goofy clumsily landed on anything but their feet, ending up in a pile, dizzy. The King managed to hold back his amusement and waited for the trio he recently picked up instead.

Sora came out first, yawning and stretching his arms above his head, eyes halfway closed. He managed to get some sleep in during the ride, to the annoyance of Kairi and Riku, who had to put up with his constant moving in his slumber.

Riku was next, shoving Sora forward, for he was walking too slow. Sora stumbled, landing on top of Donald and Goofy, who were about to get up until the Keyblade Master fell on them.

Kairi hung her head back in laughter as she came out next, standing beside the King, who put a hand to his forehead, shaking his head helplessly. Riku chuckled, pulling Sora up off of the two Disney Castle residents, one of them looking annoyed, the other looking embarrassed for what just happened.

"Watch where you're going!" Donald hollered, jumping up and down, trying to get Sora's attention. Sora rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips, glaring down at Donald.

"Next time don't fall getting off the ship!" Sora retorted, turning his back on Donald, hustling over to the gardens. Donald was fuming now. He chased after Sora, shouting many insults at him, while Riku, Kairi, Goofy, and the King walked calmly and civilized to the gardens, laughing at the humerous scene.

They had finally arrived in the garden, with both Donald and Sora out of breath, sitting down in the grass, looking exhausted. Seeing the group here, they both stood up quickly, acting as if they didn't just take a break from running and fighting.

The group walked up into the castle halls, saying their greetings to the busy servant Brooms, carrying buckets around, cleaning the floors until they shined. The King opened the Throne Room doors, and were welcomed by Queen Minnie, Daisy, and Pluto, all happy to see everyone.

"Oh, Sora! What a pleasure to see you! These must be your friends, Riku and Kairi, correct?" Queen Minnie questioned, pointing at the two named, and they nodded, confirming their identities. Kairi and Riku shook her tiny paw and stood in a sloppy circle, saying their greetings, until the King made a rumbling noise in his throat, getting everyone's attention.

(A/N: I'm going to assume that they are shaking her paw. I won't say hand, because humans have hands. So there!)

"Sora, Riku, and Kairi. You have an incredibly long journey ahead of you. This one will be extremely more challenging than the others. So, you must be prepared." King Mickey instructed, and the three nodded, eyes glinting with determination. King Mickey continued.

"This time, it will be just the three of you. Donald and Goofy will not be coming. We need them here in case the heartless return," Sora frowned upon this news, but said nothing against it, and Kairi patted his back in comfort.

"And...I know you must be curious regarding who it is you're saving. Ya see, me, Donald, and Goofy researched Jiminy's journal and found out from the computer who you're saving this time. It's Roxas, Namine, Axel, a girl named Xion, and a trio named Terra, Aqua, and Ventus." Sora's eyebrows shot up in surprise, along with Kairi's, upon hearing the red-haired Organization Member's name.

"Axel? Why him?" Kairi demanded, her voice laced with venom, remembering when he kidnapped her. Her fists were balled up tight, making nail-marks in her skin.

"Kairi, he only captured you to get his friend back. And he gave himself up to save me. If he didn't do that..." Sora trailed off, making his point, as Kairi placed a hand over her mouth, understanding what would have happened if Axel hadn't have done what he did. She nodded, eyes sympathetic.

Riku, however, looked deep in thought, gazing at The King. "Xion..." the name tasted familiar on his tongue, and he felt as if he's said it before. Another image came upon him, one of him holding the same black-haired girl he once saw in his arms, her eyes closed, as she lay unconcious. Riku blinked, the memory fading away from his vision. He said nothing now, the memory driving him into silence.

"Now, you guys better get going!" Queen Minnie declared, escorting them to the door. King Mickey rushed over behind them, eyes focused on Kairi, making her stare at him, bewildered.

"Is something the matter, your majesty?" she asked as politely as possible, but the intensity of his stare made her completely uncomfortable. He blinked once and sighed.

"Are you sure ya wanna go? I mean, this isn't just some simple jog around the worlds. You'll be putting yourself in jeopardy on this trip..." he explained, and Kairi restrained from hurting The King. Sora had this conversation with her before; she gets it, its not easy. She could tell Sora was nodding in agreement, since his hair made quite the racket when he nods.

"Your Majesty, did you not write my name on that letter?" she asked, rhetorically, and King Mickey hung his head, knowing the answer. She continued, her anger getting the better of herself.

"I'm sick of letting Sora be the only one risking something while I sit at home, twindling my thumbs, waiting for him to come back to me. This goes for Riku too. I'm going, and nothing you, or anybody else, can say will stop me." She finished, her eyes never leaving Sora's face, and he looked ashamed, doubting her like that.

The King nodded, leading them out to the Gummi Ship, not uttering another word, to Kairi's relief. If one more person lectures her about her safety, she just might punch them, no matter who it may be. Aside from Sora, of course...

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**|| = KH_3 = ||**

Sora gripped the steering wheel of the Gummi Ship, his eyes focused on the trail. He already finished his goodbyes to everyone, who were outside in the garage of Disney Castle, waving goodbye and shouting farewells to everyone. With that done, he took off, going at a high speed level, which made Kairi flinch. She'll get used to it, Sora thought, his mind focusing back on the driving and not on his beautiful best friend.

After dozens of moments of flight, a world came into sight. Sora squinted his cerulean eyes, thinking that this was a familiar world. The world had the edges surrounded with bushes of roses, and the place looked new, stone walls and tall buildings everywhere. The name was on the tip of his tongue...

"Radiant Garden," Riku announced, taking the words right out of Sora's mouth, to his annoyance. He always hated it when he used to do that back on the islands.

Sora mumbled something incoherent, making Kairi giggle at his childish attitude, and he began to land on Radiant Garden. His excitement was building as he remembered his friends on there; Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, Cloud, and Tifa. He couldn't wait to see them again, but he just hoped they were doing ok.

What the trio didn't know, as they argued about what the first thing to do there first, was that there were a few surprises waiting for them at Radiant Garden. Can they withstand them, or will the surprise be too much to handle?

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_- Woot! First world is Radiant Garden! Oh, and trust me, I noticed that some people really hoped to see other Final Fantasy characters in this. Lemme see, on my wish list, I hoped to see a girlfriend to a "lion", a brooding vampire, and some other folks you'll have to wait and see. Hey, I gave you two hints! Good enough!_

_Next World: RADIANT GARDEN! It may take two or three chapters to finish, but this is one of the few worlds I'll be going to twice, possibly three times. Since KH II made everybody go three times, and one of them was for three hours. o_O_

_Oh, and these two chapters were short because my parents are constantly checking up on me, and these are just fillers. The worlds will be longer, I guarantee you that.  
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_Cya! And, what are you guys being for Halloween? I decided on a hippie. I can't wait for Christmas though, that way, I can get a digital camera, a PSP, and Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep. That's my only reason for a PSP. And Crisis Core... 'Kay, done babbling. -_


	3. Radiant Garden: Visit 1: The Dark Figure

_- Hello again everyone! Well, here's the next chapter. Radiant Garden! And I've made up my mind, I will be doing this world about two or three times, maybe four, not all in a row though, obviously. Ooh, and a surprise is here!_

_And Radiant Garden: Visit 1, means, ah-dur, visit 1. I'm only doing this with the worlds that you visit more than once. Kind of giving you a hint as to what the world orders will be. Keeps ya guessing and stuff.  
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_Thanks for the world suggestion on that anime one, sounds cool, so no prob! I'll definitely be doing that one. Toy Story was already one I was planning on doing. Haha, it would be so cool! The group would...Ah, no spoilers from me! You Sly Coopers, you! I beat that game last month! HAH!_

_Okey dokey, done ranting. –

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**Disclaimer: Oh yes, I'll be doing this a lot. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any Final Fantasy characters mentioned. But I will soon, since Santa's gonna buy off Square Enix! Take that Tetsuya!

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**|| = KH_3 = ||**

**++{Radiant Garden}++**

By the time the trio landed, they had figured out their agenda in this world. Due to Sora's constant whining, they would visit Leon and the gang. Perhaps that would be best after all, considering both Kairi and Riku had never met them, and they could help out here, and search for those lost souls here. Besides, they had to connect this world too. Riku didn't seem quite overjoyed to meet these friends of Sora, since he may feel they could possibly replace him and Kairi, while the red-haired female of the group was happy to hear Sora so excited about other world's inhabitants; it added to another thing that she loved about him. _He's so outgoing_, she gushed in her head.

Sora led his two best friends about, seemingly aimlessly, when really; he wanted to see the new and improved Hollow Bastion. Or, now called, Radiant Garden. The town looked much cleaner than before, and not a trace of heartless.

"Wait, guys. I have a question." Kairi exclaimed, stopping mid-step, waiting for Sora and Riku to turn and face her. Sora looked at her, hands behind his head, while Riku inwardly groaned. He prayed that the question wouldn't be something stupid.

"How come we have to save Namine and Roxas? They're our nobodies, right? So, they should be fine where they are." Kairi reasoned, making Sora think about this. She had a point, of course, but something did seem odd about the fact that they had to save two people that were already safe. Were they in some kind of danger being in their others' bodies? Or, did they just not belong there in the first place?

"I have no idea. But, this is why we're going, right? To figure out these answers?" Sora replied, and Kairi nodded, somewhat reluctantly. Even if they were going to find these answers, its best to know these type of things beforehand. For all they knew, they wouldn't have to save them.

Sora was feeling rather quiet in his head. He figured Roxas would do commentary in his brain, like those TV announcers. But his head was silent, sometimes having thoughts only belonging to him. _Roxas! _Sora called to his blonde nobody, but received no answer. He also didn't feel Roxas inside of him, which felt extremely awkward to think, but Sora did wonder nonetheless. He would have to ask Kairi if she feels the same regarding her blonde nobody, Namine.

They continued to walk on, discussing the matters they have at hand, occasionally glancing around, watching kids play and eat sea-salt ice cream on park benches. Sora envied the kids' freedom, but said nothing, focusing on where he was walking and which direction he was going in; the last thing he wanted was to miss Merlin's house.

"What about those three? Terra...Aqua...and..." Riku trailed, snapping his fingers as his brained searched for the last person's name.

"Ventus." Kairi finished, and Riku nodded, indicating she was right. Sora scratched his forehead, thinking about who those people might be. The only memories he could scrape from his mind was ones of people in armor, fighting against this bald tan guy. Shrugging it off as nothing, he emptied the thought.

"That's it. We're saving some strangers now? I mean, how would we know where to search for them. Not like we know where they're from or any of their friends." Riku complained, and Sora nodded slowly. He had a point, but, there had to be a reason they were saving these people. They must be important in their hearts, right?

"The King wouldn't have told us to save them if they were just another pair of people who lost their hearts to darkness. Tons of people do that." Sora argued, and Riku was silenced, processing his own reply.

Before he could respond with a retort, there were these strange creatures in front of the entrance to Merlin's house. They looked similar to heartless, yet different. These were sleak, a blue color, and piercing red eyes. Its arms and legs ended in points, looking rather dangerous, and triangle-like heads.

Like an instinct, the trio pulled out their distinctive keyblades, Sora's Kingdom Key, Riku's Way To Dawn, and Kairi's Destiny Place, standing in battle stances, waiting for the mysterious enemies to attack first. Sora swung rapidly, making many ground combos, while Riku's attacks were packing quite a punch, knocking some out at once. Kairi had trouble, sometimes getting attacked, but managed to hang in there, to Sora's relief. She even did a spinning attack with her keyblade in mid-air, kind of like how Goofy would sometimes.

The attacks had gotten fewer and fewer, eventually leading to the disappearance of the enemies. Riku relaxed his muscles, while Sora sighed. Kairi flipped her hair back behind her shoulder, looking at Sora for approval. He gave her an encouraging thumbs up, and she smiled, appreciating the support from her friend. _I really hope he means it_, she thought, biting her bottom lip in worry, thinking she didn't do too well in her first fight with...heartless was it? But they looked a lot different from when Sora was a heartless, and they had a menacing aura radiating off of them. A far different aura than the heartless had.

As they recovered from the recent fight, an elderly face poked his head out from inside the house, looking around in fear, then relaxed at the sight of Sora and his friends. "Ah, Sora! Oh, thank goodness you've returned! Nice to see you again, my boy! And with some friends I see." The man greeted, stepping out outside, leaving the door open to his house, a rather stupid move in Riku's eyes, as well as Kairi's. Sora thought nothing on the matter, only happy to see the man again.

"Hey Merlin! This is Riku and Kairi," Sora introduced, pointing to those mentioned in order, and Merlin smiled politely, nodding to the two, who returned the nod. Merlin stepped back inside the house, beckoning for the three to follow him inside.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet the two of you. Glad to see you found your friends, Sora. Ah, and the group is here. But, eh, do be careful not to...annoy some of them..."He informed cautiously, making his voice low so the group inside could not hear his warning. The trio as he walked inside, and Sora was delighted to see Leon, who was reading some letter in a wooden chair, Yuffie, looking clearly agitated, Cloud, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Tifa, looking at him with concern, Aerith, doing the same as Tifa, and Cid, who was looking something up on the computer.

"Hey guys!" Sora cheerfully called, his voice echoing throughout the room, and all heads turned to see the spiky-haired boy smiling like the goofball he is. Riku chuckled, rolling his eyes, while Kairi hid a giggle behind her wrist.

"Sora! You're back!" Aerith was the first to welcome Sora, and Yuffie simply ignored him, grumbling to herself, while Cid just grunted in recognition. Sora felt insulted, but he remembered Merlin's warning, so he said nothing on their bad attitudes.

Aerith paused, double-taking, as she saw two unfamiliar faces beside Sora, glancing around the house. Aerith cocked her head to the side, and Sora got the hint.

"Guys, these are my friends Riku and Kairi," he introduced for a second time, and the said-friends waved to everyone, with only a few people returning the wave. Riku held his tongue, not wanting to insult the people who were helping them, while Kairi was simply appalled at this type of greeting. She held up her smile, which was beginning to waver.

"Excuse everybody, there just upset because of-" Tifa was cut off by Yuffie's loud, fierce tone of voice chipping into the conversation.

"Vincent! He can't just stop by and tell us there's something wrong with him, and that we can't help! Then he roams off to who knows where and expects us not to care! Gosh, he's such a-" Tifa's hand clamped firmly over Yuffie's mouth, preventing her to continue her rant about someone named "Vincent". Tifa gave Sora, Riku, and Kairi an awkward smile, pulling Yuffie away from them.

"Excuse them. Yuffie's just upset about our friend. But I assure you, it's nothing!" Aerith added, waving her hands in front of her face, trying to refuse any help from the trio. Sora reluctantly nodded. As much as he wanted to help, he would take Aerith's word for it, seeing as how he was far too busy with his own problems to interfere.

"Yuffie, just calm down. Vincent's like that; I figured you would know that best." Cloud stated in his usual firm-yet quiet- voice, and Yuffie turned red in her cheeks, but said nothing, seeing as how Tifa's hand was still over her mouth. She wagged her finger at the blonde, then glared at Tifa, who just smirked.

"This is just wonderful." she stated simply, being rewarded with a slap to the shoulder. Cloud chuckled, and Tifa looked down, slightly blushing.

Cid's typing on the keyboard stopped, and he popped up from his seat, slamming his fists onto the keys in frustration. Merlin glared at Cid, stomping over to him. "What is the meaning of your breaking my computer?" Merlin demanded, and Cid didn't so much as flinch, just continued to mutter numerous cusses under his breath, eyes not leaving the screen.

"Can't you read? It says that shadow-figure's back again. Seems to have gotten stronger by the looks of it." Cid barked, his hoarse yelling making Leon stir, but he continued reading his letter, not bothering to comment. Sora rushed over to the computer, Riku and Kairi following closely, and scanned the computer.

"What shadow-figure?" Riku queried, looking back at Cid. Cid sighed, crossing his arms, adjusting his tooth-pick in his teeth.

"Long story short, somethin' that's causin' trouble. Care to do the honors of takin' it out?" Cid asked, hope in his eyes, and Sora turned to Riku and Kairi, who nodded, confirming the job. Sora gave him a thumbs up and rushed over to the door, darting for the location.

"Eh, wait!" Merlin shouted, and Sora, Riku, and Kairi paused, looking alarmed. Merlin cracked a grin, even if there was a menace to defeat.

"Do you know where you're going?" he asked slyly, knowing the answer to that question. Riku held back a laugh at his own foolishness, while Kairi blushed in embarrassment. Sora scratched the back of his head, embarrassed as well.

"No..." he muttered, and awaited the answer.

"The center-garden. Hurry along!" Merlin replied, shooing them off to the center-garden, and headed back inside.

* * *

**++{Radiant Garden}++**

**((/\Center Garden/\))**

Sora, Riku, and Kairi got to a halt from their running, as they ran into their target. It was a black-hooded figure, but with a dark shadow color to it. The hood looked similar to The Organization XIII's hoods, very similar. The figure was standing in front of a girl with a brunette braid down her back. She had on a white dress, and she was crouched down in front of a brunette boy, that looked unconcious. Her eyes were wild with fear as she flinched, prepared for the figure to strike at her at any moment.

Before that could happen, however, Sora stepped in the way, deflecting the attack with his Kingdom Key. The figure was pretty strong, so Sora gripped the keyblade with two hands, tightening it as well. Riku rushed over, slashing at the figure's face, and it pulled back, with it's hands in front of its face. It summoned more of those creatures, to Sora and the group's misfortune, especially Kairi's. Her will to fight was shaky, yet she had to pull together.

Kairi ran over in front of the two kids, while Riku was on the right of them, Sora on left, assembling a triangle formation to protect them from all sides. These enemies had the appearance of a bird, with black bodies, and black wings as well. The eyes were like red beads, freaking out Kairi, but she still held her ground, taking a deep breath. They flocked her, smelling her fear, and targeting her as the weakest of the three. Her eyes widened in horror, knowing there were lives at stake, but she pulled it together, swatting at them, making them fly towards Riku and Sora, who finished them off in one or two shots each.

Finally, they all vanished, and the dark figure remained, floating lifelessly, staring at the three. Sora tore his eyes away from it, and nudged the two kids to go. The boy had woken up in time to see the battle, and, though his eyes were lit up in awe, he got up, grabbing the girl's hand and running off.

"Come on, Marlene! We have to tell Barret about this! He said he was going to some guy named Merlin's." he cried, dragging the girl away from the fight, in the opposite direction of where the figure was floating. She kept darting back behind her, a look of worry in her eyes, but followed the boy.

"Denzel, what about those people? They saved us!" That was the last thing Sora heard from the little girl, as she rounded a corner, running back home. Sora sighed, relieved that they would not get hurt, and turned his attention back to the monster-like thing.

The figure's hands lit up in flames, circling around it, and his hands now equipped two Chakrams. Sora could've sworn they looked awfully familiar, but his thoughts were engulfed on the fight ahead of him, looking to Kairi in concern. She nodded, showing she would not fall back on this fight. He complied, regretfully, and looked back to Riku, who had a fierce determination in his eyes; he clearly wouldn't let this fight be lost. The figure twirled the Chakrams in his hands, then charged at Sora, catching him off guard.

Sora flipped back up the way Riku had taught him, and countered with a sliding dash, knocking the creature off its feet. Riku took advantage of this and launched dozens of Dark Firagas at the figure, knocking it backwards, smashing into a wall. Kairi watched in amazement, and her fighting-spirit kicked in. She shouldered her way past Riku, who ended up in front of her, and charged at the figure, gripping her Destiny Place in one hand. The figure launched a dark ember at her, which Sora was prepared to warn her about, but his jaw clamped close after seeing Kairi perform a backflip, dodging the attack, and slashed diagonally with her right hand at the figure, impaling it in the chest.

The figure was stunned, dropping on its knees, the Chakrams falling to the ground. It's hand reached up near it's chest, and the darkness began melting away, some parts chipping to reveal an actual person. The person's two hands were now in front of them, palms up, and a heart began to appear from the sky, descending into the person's chest. Their whole body began to glow in light, their face revealed. The person was Axel!

Sora's eyes popped out, utterly shocked, while Kairi stared in disbelief. Riku, however, looked confused. _His being faded away though..._he thought, and this was true. Axel had given himself up in an attack for Sora to proceed to The World That Never Was, and yet, here he was. That darkness...it may have been summoned to retrieve him. But, why would a denizen of darkness want to help out The Keyblade Master, a firm believer of light? It made no sense.

Axel grunted, slowly rising to his feet, and he rapidly looked around, his eyes also sharing Kairi's disbelief. "Wh-How? Huh? Where am I?" he stammered, beginning to panic. Sora stepped closer to him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"You're in Radiant Garden. I just...don't know how or why. Axel?" he asked, confirming that this was indeed Axel, who pulled back, startled to see Sora in front of him. _This has gotta be a dream!_ Axel insisted to himself, shaking his head.

"No way. I disappeared, fair and square. But, it feels good to be home again, despite this being a dream." Axel whistled, looking up at the scenery of Radiant Garden. Sora looked annoyed; he knew Axel didn't believe this, but he's telling the truth.

"Snap out of it! You're here, in the flesh, back, and alive! Get over yourself!" Sora snapped, while Axel just shook his head, still not believing any of this could be possible. Kairi was fed up with this, and she stomped over to the other red-head, dragging him by the arm to Merlin's house.

Riku sweatdropped at how strong Kairi could be if you honestly pushed her far enough. Sora gulped. _Never get her mad...ever. _Sora took note mentally.

* * *

**++{Radiant Garden}++**

**((\/Merlin's House\/))**

"Wh-why, this is impossible!" Merlin stammered, flipping through tons of books, trying to find an explanation as to the nobody standing in his house, when he had died a while ago. Axel wanted to say "I knew it!" but he didn't comment, thinking it rude since he didn't know this old man.

The others were too busy scanning the computer, looking for this Vincent's location, and by the looks of it, not getting anywhere. Leon was glancing from the computer back to his note from time to time, while Kairi, Sora, and Riku were annoyed with how this wasn't making any sense to them.

"Well, I can't seem to figure out how this could happen. Erm, perhaps you should go visit that fellow...ah, what was his name? Disney? No, that's not it!" Merlin muttered, mulling over the name of the other wizard he was talking about. Sora snapped his fingers, scaring Merlin in the process.

"Master Yen Sid!" Sora responded, his eyes lighting up. Of course! King Mickey's master quite possibly knew everything! It would be the smartest thing alive to go visit him on this! Axel just shrugged, not exactly caring, nor paying attention, to what was going on. He was too busy figuring out what Leon's deal was with that note of his.

Merlin nodded to Sora, looking behind him at Axel, who was staring at Leon, then the note, then back to Leon, and so forth. "Don't mind loverboy over there! He just got a note from his loved one!" Merlin teased, and Leon turned around, hearing the comment, shooting him a death-glare, as if warning him to lay off. Axel choked back a laugh at this sad display of love-sickness, which didn't go unnoticed by Leon, who glared at him in turn. Axel traced a finger over his mouth, twisting his fist at the end of it, as if saying "Lips are closed now!"

"Well, perhaps you better get going, then! If you could, would you mind asking Yen Sid about those creatures from earlier?" Merlin requested, and Sora nodded, following Riku and Kairi out the door, with Axel in the back of them.

The two kids from before were rushing to Merlin's house, hands intertwined with a giant man. He was black, sporting a beard, and broad muscles. The boy noticed Sora immediately, and he tugged on his guardian's shirt, making him bend down so he could whisper in his ear. The man nodded, then stood back up, stopping in front of Sora and company.

"Uh, thanks for saving Denzel and Marlene back there. They told me what happened." he explained gruffly, and Sora nodded, feeling stiff with fear. The man grunted, muttering his name "Barret", before leading the kids into Merlin's house.

"No problem?" Sora muttered, then ran over with Riku and Kairi to the Gummi Ship, with Axel hollering after them, trying to catch up, to their amusement.

* * *

**-*:Gummi Ship:*-**

Sora fastened his seat-belt, along with Kairi and Riku, in the front, while Axel lounged in his seat, hands folded behind his head, eyes closed, preparing to nap. Sora chuckled, preparing to burst Axel's bubble**, **or, erm, douse his flame.

"Axel, you might wanna buckle up. I go pretty fast, because we need to get places in quick amounts of time." Sora explained, and Axel snorted, still not moving.

"Can I drive?" he asked in a sing-song voice, and Sora rolled his eyes. Kairi spoke up for him this time.

"Axel, we're technically friends now, but there is no way I would stay on this with you driving. You seem like a speed-demon, no offense." Kairi spoke honestly, and Axel chuckled, sitting up, his head arching next to the trio in the fronts' heads.

"None taken. Now, let's get going to Gramps!" Axel cheered, and Riku groaned; there was no way he would last this ride to Wizard's Tower with him. He inwardly prayed that the gray tower would come into sight soon.

What surprises are lying in the shadows of Wizard's Tower? Can Sora and the newly saved Axel handle this? Will they get all the answers they are looking for?

* * *

_- This took a while to finish. I'm juggling this, talking with friends, and a video on Roxas x Namine- Thanks For The Memories, by Fall Out Boy, for youtube. So, I'll update in a few days, meanwhile, continue writing._

_I had to add my touch of Axel in there. The adorably annoying part. Haha, that's how I would act. And I'd always say "Are we there yet? How about now?" during car rides to pass time or to annoy people. Charming, huh?  
_

_Leave me some comments, ok? And about my original FMV Won't Go Home Without You, the song file got deleted somehow, and I don't have the CD anymore, so I can't get the song back. So, I'm improvising. Plus, my laptop is extremely slow, so it may take a while for the FMV to be finished. I'm giving it my all and toying with effects, unlike my last one, which I just stuck to random three effects that I found. I was experimenting at the time, lighten up!_

_Oh, and guys. Lemme know what Final Fantasy characters you guys wanna see. It could be people that were in it once and never came back, or it could be characters that have yet to appear. Whichever floats your boat. I can make them their own little stories in whichever world I find suits them!  
_

_Bye guys! -  
_


	4. Wizard's Tower: Answers

_- Hi everybody! How y'all doin'? Me? Well, thank you for asking, I am super. What, nobody asked? Ah, fine._

_Well, the FMV is coming, slowly but surely. Oh, and thanks to all of the reviewers! Yes, I'm talkin' to you peeps: Kirei Ryuusei, Silverwings, Someone (lol love your user), Moe, Twiliteyes93, and Kyler. You're all cool people, and you lay in meh heart. Haha, overdramatic much?_

_Still, thanks a ton you guys! And to your suggestions (Twiliteyes93 and Moe) I'll definitely add them. But you may not be seeing them for a while, so be prepared to wait, ok? As for Zack being dead *sniffle*, if Aerith gets to be alive, so does Zack. Hey, 10 years ago, he was nice and happy, flirtin' with Aqua, so he's comin' back, if I have a say. Carry on reading, sorry for this large note!-

* * *

_

_**Disclaimer: I OWN EVERYTHING! IT IS MINE! MINE I TELL YOU! IF YOU SO MUCH AS THINK ABOUT STEALING IT, I'LL HARM YOU! Haha, kidding, still don't own crap. It's not fair!

* * *

**_

|:|:|-Wizard's Tower-|:|:|

===[Outside]===

By the time the elusive Wizard's Tower was in sight, it was far too late to save Riku's sanity. Riku groaned for the fifteenth time on the ride over, his fist on his forehead, elbow propped up on the armrest, staring longingly at their destination.

Kairi, however, was having a blast with Axel, laughing at all of his jokes, eyes watering at laughing so hard, and Axel was willed to go on by the reaction he was getting. He smirked, and continued singing, to the annoyance of Riku.

Sora was starting to feel the same as Riku, that feeling of jealousy returning in the pit of his stomach at the way Kairi would smile at Axel. His brain understood they were just friends, but his eyes just wanted to believe otherwise. He growled under his breath and gripped the wheel tighter, his nails digging into the soft cushion.

(A/N: Not sure if there is a wheel to control it, but let's roll with it.)

Ignoring the extremely obnoxious laughter and singing, Sora landed, almost roughly, his driving reflecting his emotions at this point. Kairi and her new best friend didn't seem to notice, too wrapped up in their own little conversation to pay any attention. Before Sora could tell them, or scream, to get out of the Gummi Ship, Riku took over with the demanding, to Sora's relief and annoyance. Relief that he wouldn't have to yell at Kairi, annoyance that he would get to yell at Axel.

"Can you just get out of the damn seat please!" Riku hollered, causing Kairi to flinch at his tone, and Axel to shrug his shoulders, and comply to the silver-haired teen's orders. Kairi followed, climbing carefully, and was surprised to see Sora help her out. She blushed, and Axel hooted, making her growl at him in annoyance, slapping his shoulder.

"The ones in love are always violent when they're embarrassed." Axel stated matter-of-factly, earning himself a proud smirk as he saw both the red-haired girl and the brown-haired boy blush, hanging their heads, hoping the other one didn't see the red tint.

Riku rolled his eyes and dragged Axel along, with Sora and Kairi following. They stopped as they saw what appeared to be a lion of some kind, with red fur, golden cuffs around his hind and front legs, and a few tattoos, fighting off some of those monsters, trying to get past him and into the Tower. Sora rushed over, possibly by instinct of helping others, and his keyblade flashed into his hand as he smacked one away from the lion's face. Sora nodded to the beast, not bothering for a reply, knowing that was impossible. Sora waved his hand, signaling for the others to come and help, which they did, hustling over to Sora's side.

These enemies looked different yet again, but it was easy to tell they were the same types. The creatures this time had blue skin, with silver hands, and three-fingered claws, looking deadly. Kairi gulped as she pictured them running down her skin, then her skin oozing with blood. She shook her head, swallowing down her fear, and choked up on her Destiny Place.

These were trickier when they got in a group, but nevertheless, were defeated, mainly by Sora's range, and Riku's strength proving no match for the creatures when they tackled him individually. Kairi felt useless, not contributing to the fight, but said nothing, only because it would cause an uproar of protest from Sora, and some un-needed teasing from Axel.

The trio's keyblades vanished in a flash of light, and Sora turned to face the lion. "Uhh, are you ok?" He felt foolish for asking a lion if it was ok, especially if this lion could easily turn on him if it saw Sora and friends as enemies. Riku put a hand over his face, wondering what Sora's IQ was, seeing as how he was trying to confirm if the lion was alright. It was a lion, so it couldn't respond with actual words. Also, lions have a built-in fighting talent, so this was probably nothing, since those creatures were simple to defeat.

"Not too terrible. Thank you for helping me. I was in a bit of a hurry to departure." The lion explained, startling Sora, Riku, and Kairi, making them simultaneously stare at the lion in confusion and shock. The lion heaved a sigh; this was to be expected of simple-minded humans, who look as if they've never seen anything as strange as a talking lion.

Sora turned around, then back to the lion, and this continued for a while, trying to come up with what to say. Sure, there were talking clocks, talking candles, talking tea-sets, and even talking dressers, but a talking lion was where Sora couldn't take anymore of the nonsense that was things that couldn't talk.

Axel was staring wildly at the lion, bracing himself for an attack, but on the inside, he was laughing. This whole situation was so strange, and he felt happy to be a part of it, with his newfound heart. _Maybe Roxas wasn't the only one who had a trace of a heart_, he thought smugly.

Kairi blinked a few times; she had never been to other worlds, aside from Destiny Islands and Radiant Garden, so she had never witnessed anything more peculiar than a talking lion and or wolf. She wondered if Namine had ever seen things like this before, but she knew that Namine was either ignoring her or choosing to stay out of her way. Namine had been awfully quiet, not speaking a word. She figured maybe this was because she was introverted, or maybe even shy, but Kairi couldn't determinte this just by a few conversations with the girl. Most of them revolved around her escape, and joining back together, so this confirmed it.

Riku rolled his eyes, stepping up to the plate in communicating with the animal. _Should've seen this coming_, he thought sarcastically. He grabbed Sora by the shoulders, making him sit still, and stepped in front of him, positioning himself in front of the lion, who looked slightly irritated.

"Sorry about my friends. I'm Riku, that's Sora, and she's Kairi." Riku introduced, and the lion looked slightly pleased, glad to see someone who didn't run off in fear or cringe at the sight of the lion. The flame on his tail flickered a bit, and he sat down, curling his tail around his paws neatly.

"I am Nanaki." The lion, now known as Nanaki, replied, glancing at the sky every now and then. The sky never seemed to change here, which perplexed Nanaki, but he didn't voice his opinion to the man inside, thinking it could possibly offend him. That man gave him incredible advice, especially regarding his situation with his father, the coward, who left his village to die. Riku noticed Nanaki's expression, and picked up that he was deep in thought.

(A/N: If I used his Red XIII tag, then that would force me to include the Final Fantasy VII world, which doesn't exist in Kingdom Hearts.)

"Are you alright? And, if you don't mind my asking, what were you here for exactly?" Riku questioned, raising an eyebrow in suspicion, which was foolish, since Nanaki had proven to be on their side. Riku had learned many things on his previous journeys, one of them being to gather information on other inhabitants of worlds before conversing with them. Maleficent had taught him the hard way. Riku shuddered at the memories that woman brought back in his mind.

Nanaki, however, wasn't fazed by the question. He showed no fear in stating his business, and it was only fair. These people seemed to be friends or allies to the man inside, so they had his trust.

"I came to ask the wise elder who lives in this tower some questions that I needed answered. I assume he had an entire life based upon helping others regarding information or advice." Nanaki thought aloud, and Sora nodded, not wanting to seem rude if he contradicted the lion. He hardly believed that Yen Sid was helpful in the least; if anything, he was, not to be harsh, old, and he figured being a guide was his duty. Why else would he live alone in a tower, making no contact to anyone outside.

Nanaki padded off, waving with his flame-covered tail to the trio, who watched him walk away. This Nanaki person seemed to hold much more intelligence than the trio combined, and he had this sort of wisdom that Yen Sid could possibly share with the creature. The group turned back to the door of the tower, proceeding through the halls, upwards to the floor where Yen Sid resides.

As they made their way through the floors, a faint roaring could be heard in the distance.

* * *

|:|:|-Wizard's Tower-|:|:|

.:.:.:.~-~-Yen Sid's Floor~-~-.:.:.:.

"Sora, Riku, Kairi, welcome. It seems you have another long journey ahead of you, but you will not be going alone. Axel, I see you have been granted a heart. Congragulations." Yen Sid rasped from his seat behind his desk, his hands folded. Sora noticed he had gotten much older, the wrinkles on his face highly noticable. Axel nodded his thanks, and looked around the room, in a rather bored expression. _That means a ton_, Axel sarcastically remarked in his head. Axel noticed that Yen Sid looked extremely weary, his eyes sometimes closing as he focused on Sora and his friends. He didn't even acknowledge Riku and Kairi, who were surprised to see the old wizard.

"Master Yen Sid, what are those creatures we keep running into?" Sora asked, taking a step forward, and Yen Sid sighed, his eyes closing for a brief second, as if relieving a memory or flashback. He opened his eyes, with a trace of venom in them, but they vanished in an instant.

"The Unversed. These creatures were the equivalent of heartless in the past. 10 years ago. They..." Yen Sid stopped mid-sentence, shaking his head as if deciding against elaborating, his eyes averting to the floor. Sora didn't press; he knew if he did, then he would regret it, for Yen Sid had seen things that Sora could only imagine, or at least, this was Sora's thought.

"Who are bringing these things back?" Riku asked, sitting back up from his position of leaning on the wall, his eyes looking coldly serious. It was a chilling stare Yen Sid was receiving, but he hardly noticed, too wrapped up in his own thoughts to even glance back to the trio. Ventus, Aqua... He couldn't even finish his thought; he felt helpless then, not even able to offer comforting words to the blue-haired girl, and she had disappeared ever since.

Yen Sid finally sighed yet again, and looked up, his lips parting open to start to speak. Instead, a low moaning sound came out, and he toppled over from his chair, writhing on the floor, in excrusiating pain. Sora gasped, rushing to his side, and Riku bent down beside Sora, while Kairi merely stood back, her eyes wide in fear. Yen Sid had a gaping hole that showed visibly through his blue coat, and darkness piled through the hole, eventually spreading like a virus throughout his whole body. Yen Sid trembled violently as the darkness traveled through him, and he stopped abruptly. Sora checked his pulse; gone.

Tears threatened to escape Sora's eyes, while tears were already pricking Kairi's. She didn't know the man, but seeing the scene in front of her was so devastating, it could make anyone cry. She hugged herself, her arms gripping her sides, staring at Yen Sid's perished body. The body began to disinigrate in front of the group's eyes, to their horror. Riku was silent, almost in vigil for the fallen Sorcerer. Sora wiped his eyes with his arm, standing up slowly.

"Xe..." a voice echoed throughout the wind, belonging to Yen Sid, and Sora strained his hearing to catch the silent parting sound. Sora sulked, and sniffled loudly. His one chance at finding out information was gone, and The King's master had just died before his eyes, and there wasn't a thing he could do. _So much for being a hero_, he moped.

Axel had been completely silent. He hadn't felt all too sad to see the old man die, just like that. His death wasn't nearly as brutal as this one, but somehow, he felt as if he had it worse. Plus, he did look rather old. Anyone could've seen that, and maybe it was for the better. Finding these things out on your own pays off in the long-run. Or perhaps, he was just saying this because he never met the man or got to converse with him.

"Fools. This is the price you pay for trying to save those who are better left forgotten. This old man's nonsense couldn't have possibly saved your fates in the near future." A voice echoed throughout the room, and a dark portal appeared where Yen Sid had faded into darkness. Sora shook with a ferocious anger giving him strength.

"Maleficent!" Riku shouted, his voice in an obvious rage. Riku's grudge against the witch was one rivaling Light and Darkness. Then, none other than Maleficent came out from the portal, her face having a victorious smirk. Her staff was gripped firmly in her hand, her eyes scanning the room, and they stopped at a certain pair of red-heads.

"Ah, so you decided to bring the girl after all. Hmm, perhaps she can be the next to go." Maleficent flashed a sinister smile in Sora's direction, and it took all of Sora's willpower to prevent himself from strangling her on the spot.

"Don't. You. Dare." He threatened, his voice low, eyes narrowed into tiny slits. He opened his palm to summon his keyblade, and Maleficent chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"Save the combat for another time, boy. I wouldn't bother to waste my time. A formidable ally and his apprentice are currently waiting for me as we speak. Ah, and the renegade of that preposterous Organization. Axel, was it? My, my, all this for a friend who was doomed to be a nobody. He won't even be able to be a nobody by the time my plan comes into action." Maleficent sighed, twirling her staff in her hands, and Axel grunted, pulling out his chakrams.

"You might as well make time to fight." He challenged, and as he lunged for her, she disappeared, causing him to stop in his tracks, avoiding runninginto the wall. Axel slammed his chakrams down in frustration, and Sora patted his shoulder.

"Dammit!"Axel cursed, his left foot stamping on the ground, nearly crushing his Chakrams, which vanished after a brief moment. He could've had her, if he moved quick enough. _And here I thought all this time with The Org made me stronger_, he thought bitterly. _It was just wasting my time._ Sora stood next to Axel and rested a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"We'll get her. I promise you that." With those words, the group left silently, before the three fairies from before could question them as to what happened; it was horrible to witness, explaining it would be even worse. Before they left, they grabbed everything they would need, and walked down the staircases, not uttering a word about what just went on upstairs.

* * *

(-(-Gummi Ship-)-)

The awkward silence and still lingering tension filled the air as Sora prepared to launch, his eyes focusing ahead of him, and not on the expressions of his friends. Thank goodness Nanaki wasn't there; hearing about Yen Sid's death would probably make him sad as well. Sora figured that Yen Sid helped Nanaki decide on something, with the way Nanaki would gaze off into space, and how he had spoken highly about Yen Sid when they met. It didn't matter; not like they would see Nanaki ever again.

Axel was the first to speak. "So, uhh, where we headed?" He murmured quietly, not wanting to make anyone snap at him, and Sora really didn't know. _Anywhere but here, that was for sure_, he thought sadly.

"Anywhere but here." Kairi responded, echoing Sora's thoughts, her voice echoing his emotions as well. Axel nodded, looking satisfied with the answer, silently agreeing, and sat back in his seat, buckling up once again.

They flew off quickly, and in the distance, a tiny little dot that looked like half of a city and half of an island. Sora remembered the place all to well, as did Riku, but neither of them spoke up on this. Everyone sat in silence, occasionally glancing at one another to check if they were okay.

Their troubles are far from done. Will the inhabitants of this world remember Riku all too well? And do the inhabitants have their own stories on the three armored teens from the memories in Sora's heart?

* * *

_- Haha, guess where we're goin'. I added Nanaki in there, hope Twiliteyes93 doesn't mind them making just canon appearances for one or two. Nanaki will have his own story. See, I'm gonna seperate Cosmo Canyon from Gaia, so no worries. I haven't really played FF2, FF4, and FF5 in a while. If you could help me out on this, that would be super!_

_Oh, and this chapter was also a bit of a filler. Not much I could add here, since this reflects the amount of time you spent here in the actual game. I decided I'm doing it just like that when it comes to length and how many times you go here and there._

_That FMV is gonna have to wait a little bit. I wanna give it my best shot with Windows Movie Maker, so yeah. Well, cya folks! -_


	5. NeverLand: Psycho Clown

_- Don't you guys worry, I'm not dead! ...Yet! Not dead yet! But seriously, can you forgive me? I've had a ton on my plate; uncle's in the hospital, friend's in the hospital, school work, clubs, Halloween costume, and my FMV. Excuses, excuses, but really, I'm sorry. *Yugi Muto kicked dog face* Forgive me?_

_Aha, those always work! I mean, um, yay! Well, on a brighter note, I'll be starting some other stuff as well as this. That musical thingy, yeah, just gonna make it a story revolving around one song. Not sure which one, but that one will be about Kingdom Hearts. Which couple? Again, not sure yet. Oh, and I'm gonna do a Final Fantasy X Highschool fic. Obviously, it's about Yuna x Tidus. Ah-dur!_

_Thank you my lovely readers/reviewers/alerters/favoriters! (Is favoriters a word?) You are all the bestest. And to that special little one about my Code Lyoko stuff, I'll think about it. ;D Just kidding, of course I will, but you need to be patient! And the construtive criticism rocked! Let's hope I'll get the hang of it, ok? -

* * *

_

_**Disclaimer: Ya know, all in two weeks, something happened. I owned Square Enix, got into a war with Tetsuya, and eventually, he won, leaving me, with nothing. Not even a Roxas plushie. Shame!

* * *

**_

**~-~-~[Neverland]~-~-~**

**X:X:X=England-Big Ben=X:X:X**

Kairi felt her gaze traveling on the star blazed night sky of this world a bit too long. The Gummi Ship was nearing a landing point, yet she couldn't bring herself to tear her cerulean eyes away from the sky. It was just too...breathtaking. Sure, many night skies looked like this back at Destiny Islands; some were even more beautiful. But, this was her first time witnessing a sky that could compare to the skies back home. She never thought her letter would be true, in a sense.

Now her head was starting to drift off into her own little world. _Would we see another one like this again?_ She couldn't help but ponder that, and her brain couldn't form an answer, to her dismay. Fear was practically eating her alive at this point, and she could feel herself crumbling from the pressure, from the expectations and faith her two best friends had in her. Sora would want to protect her from everything and anything if she backed down now. As nice a thought that was, she wanted to prove herself fit of keeping up with The Keyblade Master, and that she was worthy of his affection.

It wasn't until Sora waved his gloved hand in front of her face that she snapped out of her trance and focused on her mission ahead of her. Her worries went away just by glancing at the sky, and just like that, they're back, making her anxiety spiral back into dominating her mind. Kairi shook her head, grabbing Sora's hand as he helped her out of the Gummi Ship.

Riku was the last to get out, looking frozen to the seat. His eyes held their own story of this world, and he would be damned if he got back out there. He just got back his confidence and trust in his friends; the inhabitants of this world wouldn't let this one go so easily. Riku didn't know for sure if Sora told them about Riku's misdeeds, and he wasn't even sure if Sora was close friends with these people.

The only sights his jade eyes could see were flashbacks; a confused and petrified Sora looking helplessly at a lifeless Kairi in Riku's arms, as he faded back into darkness, sending out a copy of The Keyblade Master. Kairi's unconcious figure, looking sound asleep in the cabins of the ship, while Riku's brain rattled with thoughts of betrayal and weakness.

Riku felt his eyes close, almost by impulse, and his palms gripped the seats, sweat beginning to flow down his arms. He felt a gentle shove move him to his left, and Riku's head whipped around to see an impatient Axel, a concerned Kairi, and a confused Sora. As always, he thought, slightly cheering up. He slid over to the door and jumped down, landing beside Axel, who huffed.

"What, the seatbelt get stuck?" Axel taunted, and Riku rolled his eyes, letting his comment slide. But, his cocky side kicked in, and he wouldn't let Axel get off with that remark.

"Hey, it wouldn't be the first time somebody got stuck, if I recall about an hour ago-" Riku was cut off by Axel's loud groan, and he waved his hands up in the air, signaling his retreat.

"Alright, alright, let's not bring it up, 'kay?" Axel reasoned, giving him a guilty half-smile, and Riku smirked victoriously. Sora smiled at his friend's original attitude coming back. _Maybe he won't be so gloomy_, he thought optimistically.

The group stood under the shade of the clock tower, walking around to the front of the Big Ben, glancing around for any signs of world inhabitants. None were in sight, to Sora's displeasure. He sighed, his shoulders sagging, and Kairi patted his back supportingly, making him stand up a bit taller, hiding the pink tint on his cheeks.

They rounded a corner, making them now located at the front of the Big Ben, where the clock was, and the keyhole for the world last time, as Sora recalled. He remembered the exciting experience of flying, with the help of the pixie fairy friend Peter Pan had, Tinker Bell. He could also remember when he gushed about telling Kairi, and how he would never believe him. He had a goofy grin on his face by this point as a thought found its way to his head. _Now she will, once I find that Tinker Bell!_

Meanwhile, our hard-to-read, red spiky-headed friend Axel had a vague feeling he had been here before. Not this exact spot, but, the world in general. The place just had that feel to it, like stepping into an old home. But, his thoughts kept drawing blanks as to when and why he was here, or if he even was at all. My memory's just off, he thought, dismissing the feeling as nothing.

(A/N: *Giggles* Memory...Off...Oh too ironic!)

Suddenly, faint voices could be heard blowing away with the wind, and Kairi looked around, cautiously, drawing out her Destiny Place in a whisk of light, and Sora's hand clasped over it, stopping her from swinging it in an attack. Kairi looked over at him, but he said nothing, his ears perked up, listening for the voices, thinking he could detect who they belonged to if he tried.

Riku and Axel seemed to have the same idea, because Axel's hand instantly shot up over Kairi's mouth, preventing any protest. Unfortunately, that didn't work, because Kairi's insults at Axel were muffled, making her try and project her voice, but not prevailing. Riku rolled his eyes yet again and listened, leaning his head closer.

"Come on Wendy, it's me! Peter!" the voice belonged to a young boy, insisting to whoever he was talking to that he or she remember him. Sora recognized the voice almost immediately, and his thoughts were confirmed when he spoke his name, "Peter".

"Peter P-" It was Sora that was silenced this time by a hand over his mouth, belonging to his silver-haired best friend, who looked almost frightened for a second, but it flashed away, replaced by annoyance at Sora's outburst. Sora let that slide for now, too wrapped up in the conversation Peter Pan was having with his girlfriend, as Sora thought, Wendy.

"Wendy? No, no, no, I'm her daughter!" the girl corrected, her voice becoming loud and clear as she rounded the opposite corner, stopping near the edge, facing opposite of the group, to their relief. Getting spotted now would ruin their chances of finding out what was going on, and a certain boy's fear of judgement was getting the better of him.

The girl looked nothing like the Wendy that Sora remembered Peter Pan saving. Her hair was almost the same length, a bit shorter, and a lighter chestnut brown color. She had on a purple nightgown, as opposed to the blue one Wendy wore, and the girl had black socks on, which, by the looks of it, were old and dirty. There was a significant height difference, the girl being much shorter, and younger, by the sound of it. Sora was perplexed at who this could be, and how Peter Pan could be so dense as to mistake her for Wendy. One little detail was especially significant about the girl; her locket, bronze, in the shape of a heart, engraved with a name in it.

"You sure look like Wendy!" Peter Pan's voice became as loud and clear as the stranger's, and he came into view, wearing his usual green attire, and he was floating on his back in the sky, pixie dust surrounding him as he layed back, arms crossed, head tilted towards the girl. His eyes were scanning every little detail, as if thinking she was deceiving him. Sora smacked his hand to his forehead, almost running over there and smacking some sense into the boy.

Apparently the girl was just as frustrated, because she let out an exasperated groan, and placing her hands firmly on her hips. She must have been glaring at Peter, because his throat formed a lump, eyes widening.

"Listen you-you creep! Why would you kidnap me in the middle of the night just to mistake me for my foolish mother who still believes in fairy...fairy tales! I get it, I must be dreaming!" The girl snapped her fingers, turning around, making the group run over to the corner, hiding behind the wall before she, or Peter, saw them.

Lady Luck, or Doctor Delusional, was on their side, however, because the girl closed her eyes, relaxing her face, and began standing still, waiting for this "dream" to be over. Peter Pan waited, looking mystified, but nonetheless waited for her to be done. Riku held back a chuckle at the scene, and Kairi hid a giggle behind the back of her palm as she watched from wedged in front of Sora, which made him feel pleasantly comfortable. He could get used to this position, alright.

The girl opened her eyes, looking relieved at one second, then she grimaced, realizing she didn't escape her "dream". Peter Pan let out a giant laugh, throwing his head back, clutching his sides from laughing so hard. She huffed, the breath moving her bangs upward, and crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes widened in realization; her mother wasn't bluffing.

"Wait a second...so, you're Peter Pan?" The girl asked, confirming his identity, and he nodded, jesturing to himself with his arms, a proud grin on his face as he held his chin up high.

"The one and only!" he stated smugly, floating around in a twirl, eyes lit up with amusement. To think that he met Wendy about 15 years ago or so, and yet, he can't seem to act his own age, as the girl had witnessed. She found it hard to believe her mother had once taken an interest in the bafoon dressed in green, and forgetting this boy was all the more harder to believe.

The girl rolled her eyes at the boy's childish display. Her mother had fallen for an oaf back then, but thank the heavens she had forgotten about him. It seemed her mother was a bit off on her description of Peter Pan; brave, cunning, and kind-hearted weren't the first words that popped into the girl's head. The words she was thinking of were arrogant, immature, and ignorant. Perhaps her mother was as dense as she believed, not just for filling her little brother's head with mindless nonsense called "fairy tales".

"Oh thank goodness there's only one of you!" the girl muttered, hoping the boy heard her. Peter did, and stared in disbelief at the direct insult towards him, but said nothing voicing his hurt. _She sure changed_, Peter thought, disappointed.

"Boy Wendy, I can't believe you forgot me..." Peter trailed off, scratching underneath his hat, his face scrunched up in thought, and the girl was fuming now at how dense he could be. She had already cleared up that she wasn't Wendy, but her daughter, yet it seemed to go in one ear and out the other with this boy.

Sora and company found themselves annoyed with him as well. He had surely become less aware than the last time they had come here. Sora wanted to rush over there and yell everything at Peter, so he could finally understand, but he thought against it. Then, he changed his mind.

Riku gripped his shoulder fiercely, making Sora glare up at him, and he immediately stepped back into his hiding spot after catching a glance at Riku's warning glare. Shivers went down Sora's spine; Riku could be scary when he wanted to be.

"No, you nitwit! I'm her daughter, Jane! Wendy is my mother, and she is back at home, in her thirties, probably comforting my little brother by now! Can you get that through that empty head of yours?" The girl, Jane, snapped, her fists clenched by her side, and she stamped her right foot, turning to look at Peter Pan with a vicious pair of narrowed eyes.

Peter gulped, nodding weakly, showing that he understood, and took all of this in. His eyes were as wide as saucers by now, scared of the tone Jane had used, and for another reason. Realization had dawned on him; Wendy had kids, she was about thirty, and chances are, Jane had a father. Peter's head filled with thoughts of betrayal and loneliness, but he recovered, not wanting to alert Jane about his thoughts.

"Sorry...Is your father at home?" Peter asked, and Jane felt rather uncomfortable with his question. She knew of Peter's intentions with asking this question. He wanted to know if she got married, abandoning her thoughts of being with Peter, and moving on to a more mature, smarter, and just plain better man than the "boy who never got old".

Still, she couldn't bring herself to lie. "Yes." she murmured, only half-lying. Her father was technically fighting a war, but Peter would probably take that as a sign that he might have died, and move in on her mother, despite the age difference. She couldn't exactly vouch for him, considering she just met him on bad terms.

Kairi could notice the disappointment edged in his facial expression. She felt a stab of sympathy for him, placing herself in his shoes to get a better feel of the situation. Suddenly, her heart began to sting. She pictured Sora, forgetting about her, and falling for another girl, looking a little bit like Namine. Kairi knew that she was just overreacting, but the eerie feeling that it's happened before still lingered. She couldn't bear to keep picturing the thought, so she erased it from her mind, looking back at the scene.

(A/N: Irony!)

"Now, if you don't mind taking me home. I've had enough "fun" to last me ages!" she sarcastically remarked, wiping her dress off from any dust or dirt that still clung to her. Peter said nothing, completely quiet, not looking up at her. He then remembered she was still here, and he nodded absentmindedly, flying a bit closer to her, stretching his hand out to her.

As she was about to grab it, Peter pulled away, noticing a brunette spike poking out from around the corner; it was sticking out like a sore thumb. He flew a bit closer to it, to Jane's annoyance, and she huffed, impatiently, and waited for him to finish.

Jane was starting to go beyond annoyed with this boy. He was looking at it like he was sneaking up on an animal. It's probably just someone spying on them, and yet, he didn't bother going around the corner, or even closer, but just stayed far away from it, squinting his eyes.

"Oh for crying out loud! We- I mean, I- know you're out there, so you can come out now!"Jane called, cupping her hands around her mouth, projecting her voice to the group, and they sighed, realizing they were caught.

Peter looked at Jane, impressed by her rational thinking, and watched the group come out slowly, all of them looking embarrassed, avoiding eye contact.

Sora noticed Riku stopped, frozen in his tracks, and he turned to him, motioning him to come forward. Riku nodded slowly, running behind the grumbling Axel, hiding from Peter Pan and Jane. If they saw him, or at least Peter, and pointed out that he was the one who had Kairi and fought with Sora, he was sure to be in for another guilt trip.

Peter Pan's eyes widened as he noticed who the brunette was. He flew over to him, almost tackling him in the air, and looked him up and down rapidly.

"Sora! It's really you! Boy, it's been ages! Hey, did 'ya find your girl?" Peter winked at Sora and nudged him in the chest with his elbow, making Sora blush, knowing who he was talking about. The red-haired beauty blushed as well, hanging her head, and her hair draped over her face, covering her red cheeks from view. Axel nudged her as well, catching on to who Peter was talking about.

"Y-yeah, Peter, that's Kairi over there." Sora looked over his shoulder at Kairi, who pulled herself together in time to give Peter a shy smile and slight wave, and he nodded, grinning ear-to-ear at Sora.,

"She's a keeper!" he whispered, leaning into Sora's ear, and Sora looked at him, glaring, almost challenging him to say that again. Peter Pan backed up, afraid to get hurt by the brunette, and put his hands up, shielding his face.

Sora was about to chase after him, when a loud cough made him stop, looking around his companions to see who did it. Axel was the first person Sora looked at, and he could see the red-head was annoyed; he had his arms crossed in a pout, his head facing away from Sora, and his foot was tapping. He noticed Sora looking at him, and merely jerked his thumb in Peter's direction and mouthed "Who's he?".

Sora groaned, rolling his eyes at Axel's childish routine, realizing he just wanted an introduction. _And I was gonna hurt him too_, Sora whined in his head.

"Axel, Peter Pan. Peter Pan, Axel. Happy now?" Sora asked the former nobody impatiently, and Axel smirked, nodding his head, looking satisfied, and looked at the scenery of the city.

Peter Pan? Now he was sure he's seen this boy before. The name rang some bells, and his days in The Organization came back to mind. He'd always go with Roxas, occasionally another member (for some reason, he couldn't remember who), to a place called Neverland, and one of the inhabitants were named Peter Pan. According to a captain there, that is. Roxas would always help this fairy that was friends with Peter Pan, and eventually, she would help them fly in return.

The memories made Axel's heart feel like it was being twisted around. Heart...that was something new to say, even if it was in his head. This heart would be a little weird at first, but he'll survive. Roxas would always ask him if he had one. Now, he could say yes. If he can see Roxas again, that is.

(A/N: Hee-hee! He couldn't remember who! And, seeing Roxas again! Funny for me, the writer!)

Riku could feel the sweat continue to drip from his forehead, the worry growing with each word from the boy's mouth. So far, he managed to stay out of sight, but for how long? He's observed that the smartest of the two from this world is the girl, who is staring at the group as if they were aliens (which was indeed half-true), and it wouldn't take long for her to notice the silver sticking out from behind the tall, not to mention incredibly thin, red-headed man.

Riku also wasn't exactly scrawny like Sora, his muscles being a bit too large for the average teenager, and they were probably sticking out like Sora's spike had done to blow their cover.

"Who's that behind you, Axel?" Jane politely asked the man, who at first look baffled by her question, but remembered that Riku took cover behind him, and he began to get nervous, knowing that he was under pressure by Riku, who was relying on him to come up with something.

"Wha-what are you talking about? No-nobody's behind me, right Kairi?" Axel cleverly turned the tables on Kairi, making her the one to cover up for Riku, who gave her pleading eyes from behind Axel, and she gulped, scared as well.

Kairi could never tell a lie to anyone. Not even total strangers such as Peter Pan and Jane. She's tried numerous times with Selphie back on the islands, but Selphie just laughs at her attempts and points out her mistakes. One of her biggest hints to her lies, however, is her smiling. Especially if Kairi tries to cover it with her hand; it hints that she's lying.

Kairi tried to come up with something fast, but not only did she remember her lying habits, she remembered how impossible it was to explain silver strands of hair and muscles sticking out from behind a man with red spiky hair and a tall, thin figure with no trace of muscles.

Her lips began to twitch, indicating that she was going to smile. Her hand shot up, like an instinct, and covered her mouth, looking down at the ground.

"U-umm, I erm..." she stammered, talking with her hand over her mouth, so she was barely understood by anyone, and Riku smacked his hand to his forehead, knowing that the jig was up, and he had to come out, otherwise Peter would come to him.

Riku stepped to the side, in clear view for everyone to see, and Axel shot him a look of confusion, but said nothing against it. Riku sighed, slightly waving to the two, and he caught Jane's blush as she looked away, distracting herself from Riku. Peter Pan didn't look surprised at first, but then, his head caught up with him on who this was, and why he was hiding.

"Sora! It's that Riku guy, the one who kidnapped Kairi! He must've followed you guys here! Quick, you make a run for it, and I'll fight 'em off!" Peter Pan flew over to Riku, pulling out his dagger, and held it up to his neck, clearly threatening the boy, and was about to make his mark when Kairi, who was standing near Riku, held her Destiny Place up, knocking the dagger away from Riku's throat.

He looked relieved, and nodded to Kairi, who smiled slightly. Peter looked shocked, and turned on Kairi, flying over to her after he retrieved his dagger from the floor of the platform.

"Kairi, what's your problem? This is the guy who kidnapped you, remember!" Peter Pan shouted, in a rage, and Kairi rolled her eyes. _This boy must always jump to conclusions_, she thought, annoyed.

(A/N: Remember, she was unconscious. She had no clue he kidnapped her!)

"No, this is Riku. He's our best friend from the islands." Kairi explained slowly, hoping Peter got the point. She was getting fed up with him by now, and the last thing she wanted to hear was accusations towards one of her best friends.

"Peter, Riku's ok now. The darkness is gone. He's not like that anymore." Sora elaborated, and Peter pulled back slowly, almost reluctantly, and he kept his eyes narrowed at Riku.

"So, how's-" A loud cannon could be heard in the distance, which startled the group as they jumped. Jane was the most petrified, as she placed a hand on her chest, and almost fell of the edge. Thankfully Peter caught her, and she pulled away, standing far away from him, and closer to Sora. Everyone looked to Sora, and he nodded, confirming that they should go check it out.

* * *

**{*[*]*Neverland*[*]*}**

Sora, Riku, and Axel stood in front of Kairi and Jane, while Peter floated above their heads, as they examined the pirate ship in front of them, with a black storm cloud above it. Sora took a few steps towards the plank that acts as a bridge, about to head inside the ship, when Riku stopped him, grabbing his shoulder. Sora glanced back at Riku, and followed his finger that was pointing to the clouds.

The clouds began to flash rapidly, shooting lightning, and suddenly, dozens of Unversed began spewing out from inside the cloud, charging after the group. Peter swooped down and cradled Jane in his arms, flying above the action, protecting her, much to her refusal. The group prepared their weapons, the keyblades flashing out in a cloud of light, and Axel's chakrams in a flurry of flames.

The Unversed were blue, much like the others the group had encountered, with thin necks and pear-shaped bodies and wings attached, allowing them to fly in the skies, making it harder to fight them.

After a dozen had been swatted away and flung into the waters, Sora had grown frustrated. He stood still, clenching his fists, and he began glowing a bright red color. A flash of light blinded some Unversed as Sora transformed into his Valor Form, now equipping the Star Seeker keyblade and Oathkeeper. Kairi watched in awe as Sora practically went berserk, taking out Unversed left and right. Eventually, thanks to Sora, they had all disappeared, leaving the ship available to investigate.

"You were amazing, Sora!" Kairi complimented, and Sora scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, but nodded his thanks to her, and she giggled at his bashfulness. Everyone climbed aboard the ship, one at a time, aside from Peter and Jane, who floated into the ship, checking the skies for anymore Unversed. The ship looked deserted, as far as anyone could tell.

Just then, a long sword came flying towards Kairi's head, and Sora jumped towards her, shoving her out of harm's way. Kairi gasped, looking at the sword that was now stuck to the pole, and she smiled at Sora, hugging him, showing her thanks, and he blushed, but looked alert. A maniacal, high-pitched and continuous laughter reached his ears, and he turned to the direction it was coming from.

"Well, I see we have some visitors! Welcome to...your downfall! I am your tour guide for the night, Kefka Palazzo!" a rather annoying voice introduced himself, mock-bowing to the group, wearing a sinister grin on his face.

He looked incredibly strange; he wore an outfit composed of primarily red and yellow, with a mixture of strips and polka-dots, looking like a court-jester. His skin was pure white, obviously make-up, and feathers sticking out from his blonde hair, which was in a tight bun.

(A/N: Go easy on me with what he looks like!)

Sora stood up, helping Kairi up as well, and he drew out his keyblades, since he was still in Valor Form. He narrowed his eyes at the weird menace who launched the sword.

"What do you want, you Psycho Clown?" Sora sneered, narrowing his eyes challengingly at Kefka, who merely scoffed and waved a hand in dismissal at the boy, not taking him seriously one bit.

"Settle down, little boy! I have been hired by my dear friend to eliminate you four! As for the boy in the spandex and his little girlfriend, let them do as they please! This world will be gone anyway!" Kefka said, laying down on his side in the air, resting his head on his fist as he looked at the group wearily.

"What are you talking about?" Riku questioned, glaring at Kefka, who just rolled his eyes. He wasn't intimidated in the least by this boy who was putting up a facade of being strong and the best of the best. Kefka could see right through his little charade.

"I'm talking about- Oh wait, the old fossil said I couldn't say a word! Ah, well, more fun for me! Now, who'd like to go down first? You, my dear?" he asked with a giant smile, looking in Kairi's direction, who flinched, but still held her keyblade out, not showing any signs of weakness, like Riku directed her to.

"Where's Hook, Circus Freak?" Peter Pan called to Kefka, swooping down beside him, putting Jane down on the floor, next to Kairi. Kefka looked at him, acting as if he didn't know who he was talking about.

"Hook? Why, the only person here was some guy with a hook for a hand, who was afraid of some measly little crocodile! I helped him take care of that little phobia, and he repaid me with his darkness. Oh, I showed his crew the door too, like the nice man I am! Well, the bottom of the ocean, technically!" Kefka corrected himself, wiping his hands together, appreciating his own dirty work, and Peter gasped, glancing at the ocean, as if expecting the crocodile to come up and burp up Captain Hook's hat.

"You monster!" Peter spat, pulling out his dagger, aiming for Kefka's face, who swiftly evaded the attack, flipping backward, arms folded, shaking his head in disappointment.

"My, my, what an ingrate! I do you a favor by taking out your mortal enemy, and this is how you repay me? Fine." Kefka shrugged, firing a dozen Firaga spells at the group, some making contact with Peter, who went flying into the ocean. Kairi turned around to face him for a second, worried, but turned back to Kefka, realizing she was showing him an opportunity to attack her from behind. He smirked tauntingly, noticing what she was thinking, and fired a blast of a blue magic, shrouding the group in a circle, stinging them to the point of having scars and open cuts, dripping with fresh blood.

"Like my little spell, Ultima?" Kefka asked, knowing the answer, and while he was momentarily distracted, a large flame in the shape of a cross, with a circle of darkness around it, came towards Kefka, sending him flying into the front of the ship. He dropped to his knees, looking defeated, but lifted his head, smiling, looking crazy.

"Well...Oh how do I do this?" he muttered, loud enough for the group to hear him, and he looked back up, probably coming up with the answer to his question. "I got it now! Argh...You may have defeated me...but, can you defeat...the old hag herse- I've...said too much!" he concluded, grunting, and with that, he began to fade away, disappearing in a black and purple cloud of darkness. His disturbing smile still lingered for a few seconds, then eventually disappeared, replaced with his doubly disturbing laughter.

Axel stood up straight, adjusting his shoulders, feeling a little stiff after that attack. Sora patted his back, looking impressed with the attack.

"When did you learn that?" Sora asked curiously, and Axel shrugged, giving him a lazy smile.

"Dunno. But damn, it was pretty strong, huh? I'm gonna call it, Crossfire! Cool, huh?" Axel declared, and Sora nodded eagerly, glad to see everyone learning new abilities, such as Riku's counter-attacks he demonstrated with the Unversed, and Kairi's twirl that reflected magic.

"Uh, yeah, but did you guys even hear him? "A dear friend"...That could be anybody."Kairi said thoughtfully while she helped Jane to her feet, who looked distracted, staring at the water, looking for Peter Pan. Her mother would be saddened to hear her favorite hero died, protecting her own daughter.

"We can't figure everything out now. Let's just move on; his friends are bound to show up at the other worlds." Riku suggested, and everyone nodded, looking relaxed now.

Peter Pan came bursting into the air, a splash of ocean water following him upward, and he looked proud, holding something behind his back. Jane scowled at him, almost ashamed that she was worried about him.

"Where were you?" Jane demanded, hands on her hips, and Peter shrugged, hands still behind his back.

"Oh, nowhere...I just found these!" Peter put his hands in front of him, revealing an old keyblade Sora remembered to be called Wishing Star, and he smiled at Peter as he tossed it to Sora.

"Thanks, Peter! Where'd you find it?" Sora asked as he slashed the keyblade around, giving it a try, and he remembered his last visit here yet again.

"I went to go look at the bottom of the ocean. Turns out, it was down there too. How'd you lose that thing?" Peter asked, laughing at Sora's cluelessness, when really, Sora was thinking. He couldn't remember ever losing it in the first place. Maybe he just had it taken away somehow.

(A/N: I'm just gonna pretend Namine took all of Sora's keyblades from the first one. Hey, he didn't have them in the second one, yet he didn't notice, right? Neither did we. So, this is what my fried brain came up with.)

"Not sure. Well, we gotta go!" Sora quickly changed the subject, and surprisingly, nobody noticed, and nodded, agreeing. Jane sighed, knowing she would regret her next decision, and took out her necklace, tossing it to Peter, who looked taken aback.

"I want you to have it. My mother's name, Wendy, is on the front. I'm sure...she'd want you to have it." she forced herself to say the last line, and he smiled brightly, flashing his teeth.

"Thanks!" he chirped, and he held it up to the moonlight, looking at its shine, almost in a trance. Suddenly, the necklace began glowing, and it lifted into the air, turning into a keyhole, the world's keyhole specifically.

Sora found himself preparing to lock, or lock again (or something), the keyhole, aiming his Wishing Star at the keyhole. A beam of light shot out from the Wishing Star, and the keyhole faded, turning black and disappearing. The locket plummeted onto Peter's head, and he rubbed his head, in pain.

"Didn't I already seal this world?" Sora asked Riku, who nodded, looking as confused as Sora was.

"Maybe...the worlds must have reacted to the appearance of the Unversed." Riku offered, and Sora nodded, agreeing for now, since they had no other leads.

"Yeah, yeah, you're a genius Riku. Now, let's get goin'!" Axel hollered as he ran down the plank, followed by Kairi, who laughed as she turned around to call to Sora.

"Slowpokes!" she teased, sticking her tongue out at the two boys still on the ship. Riku and Sora glanced at each other, smiling, and they got ready to speed off, when Peter gripped Riku's broad shoulder, preventing him from doing so.

"Look...I'm sorry I went full-out jerk on you back there. I guess people change. Truce?" Peter stuck out his hand, hoping Riku would shake it. Riku nodded, smiling at him, and shook his hand, a little too tightly for Peter's liking. He winced after Riku turned around and sped off with Sora, chasing after Kairi and Axel, managing to catch up to them, almost reaching the parked Gummi Ship, hovering above the water. Peter and Jane waved goodbye to them as they took off, flying upward, into the sky.

* * *

**^^^=Gummi Ship=^^^**

"Is everyone buckled up this time?" Sora asked, purposely glaring at Axel, who shrugged, looking innocent. Then, he dropped the innocent act and crossed his arms and huffed.

"Hey, warn a guy when you decide to go faster than the speed limit!" Axel accused, buckling in his seatbelt, while Kairi buckled her's in, giggling.

"Since when are there speed limits in space?" Riku asked Axel, smirking, while he buckled in his seatbelt, and Axel mumbled something incoherent.

"That's what I thought. Now, next world?" Sora asked Riku, who was squinting his eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of the next world. He managed to see an aquatic world, looking surrounded in a bubble of water, the inside holding a palace-like castle.

"Oh, this world is gonna be fun!" Sora cried, knowing exactly where they were headed, and ignored all questions regarding where.

Sora's excited, and Peter has forgiven Riku. But, a new enemy has appeared. Is Kefka really telling the truth, or is he trying to psych out the group? And is this next world really as fun as Sora believes it to be?

* * *

_- Extra long for you guys! Take it as my way of apologizing!_

_I added Kefka in there, and I have a feeling I'm gonna have fun writing him. Yes, he's still here. Obviously! I have a few secrets in store._

_And I made the keyholes unlocked in this. You'll find out why later. Hehehe!_

_My FMV's almost done, so keep checking my youtube for it, ok? I worked as hard as I can using Windows Movie Maker, which sucks. Timing has gotten better, though!_

_Oh, and I made the group easily-annoyed with Peter Pan, because, well, it reflects off me! He was annoying in Kingdom Hearts, and the way he said "I'm the answer to your prayers!" was so retarded, I wanted to bash my TV in with a sledge hammer until his face looked demented. But I liked him in the cartoons!  
_

_Bye guys! Leave your reviews and stuff!_

_And thanks again for being patient! Love you guys! If you're girls, no homo! xD-_


	6. Atlantica: Land And Sea

_- Hey guys! Yeah, updating whenever I can came into effect again. So, hope I wasn't disappointing anybody? ...I probably did but yeah._

_Anyways, happy news: My FMV is uploaded now! Here the link to put in: .com/watch?v=iMpetCz8RCc -Yeah right there! Watch it!_

_It's my best yet. Any requests let me know! This time I can take them. But I'll need a location to get the song. I don't have every single CD in the world, so yeah._

_Before the sad reminder that I don't own comes, let me tell you lovely folks something. I appreciate all the alerts and stuff, but reviews would be nice too. I'd like to read it in words that you guys like it. I can only tell you alerted because my email, btw._

_But yeah, sorry to be a bummer. I'm usually mellow when it comes to this. -

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_

**Disclaimer: ...I do- *gun is pointed at head by Square Enix member* Erm, don't! Aha...I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. *gun goes away* Bastards... *gun comes back* LOVE YOU! *loads bullets* AWW C'MON I WAS KIDDING! CAN'T YOU TAKE A JOKE? *trigger is pulled* ...**

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**,;,;,;,Gummi Ship,;,;,;,**

"Sora, the fact that you've been in a happy trance because of the next world is disturbing. Care to elaborate for the rest of the class?" Axel sarcastically remarked, crossing his arms, shifting forward to look at Sora, who kept his grin in tact. He hadn't stopped smiling ever since the official announcement, made by Riku, that their next world was indeed the world Sora was thinking of. Kairi found the situation amusing, not having a worry, unlike Axel; she trusts Sora completely, and knowing him as long as she has, he'd pick a fun and exciting world to get joyful over.

Sora shrugged his arms while he steered, not looking back at Axel, to the red-head's annoyance. "I'm a happy person, Axel. It's my nature. The class has no rights, now do they?" Sora replied, simply smirking as he heard Axel's head thump into the back of his headrest, then followed by an aggrivated groan. Riku rolled his eyes, holding back his chuckle, and Kairi giggled as well, turning around to check up on Axel. Axel glanced up at Kairi, mouthing 'What do you see in him?' to Kairi, who blushed and shook her head, refusing to answer his rhetorical question.

"So, "happy boy", what's so fun about Atlantica?" Riku asked, quoting what Sora had dubbed himself, using the index and middle finger jesture on the applied nickname, shooting Sora an exasperated glance. He'd had plenty of fun at that last world with the psycho clown, maybe this time, they could get chased around by murderous racoons. Riku smirked as he heard Sora scoff, completely unhappy with the nickname.

"I can smell the doubt in your voice, Riku! So, I'll have you know, Atlantica was fun! We got to sing and dance and stuff!" Sora chirped, going a bit faster, his excitement letting him go faster, making Kairi wince at their speed. The speed was beginning to get far too dangerous for anyone to stay in their seats, and everyone noticed this, aside from the brunette controlling the Gummi Ship. She gave Riku a hopeful look, and Riku nodded, catching her drift. Kairi inwardly sighed; he would be subtle yet gentle about this, of course, not letting his hopes go crashing down.

"Hey speed demon, slow it down. Kairi's getting a heart-attack back here!" Riku called, sliding lower into his chair, starting to relax, while Sora panicked. The Gummi Ship came to an abrupt halt, and Kairi cursed under her breath, shaking her head in disappointment. Why did she let Riku handle this again?

"Kairi, you okay? Everything alright? I'll slow down next time I promise-" Sora's babbling was trying to be stopped by the auburn-haired girl, who sighed, smiling lightly at his overprotective instinct.

"Sora," he didn't stop yet. "Sora," again, nothing but constant babbling. "If I ever do that again, Axel has permission to light me on fire, I swear to-" Sora was just about to give Axel permission when Kairi cut him off. "SORA!" she screamed, making Sora stop to look at her, fear in his eyes as well as Riku's and Axel's.

"Damn..." Axel muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear, and Kairi shot him a glare before turning to Sora with a sweet smile on her face.

"Just...calm down, okay Sora? We're almost there anyways." Kairi reasoned, and Sora nodded, like a little child, and continued to steer, at normal speed, to the relief of Kairi, who relaxed back in her seat.

"You had to stop him when he was giving me permission to light him on fire, right Kai?" Axel complained, and Kairi laughed, not caring one bit about Axel's hopes. Sora gave an evil chuckle, making Axel stiffen in horror, scared of what Sora had up his sleeve. That chuckle was beyond creepy, and gave the air a chilling feeling.

"Oh, laugh now, Axel. But, HOTHEAD," Sora barked, making Axel hop back, sitting up straight against his seat. "I will have the last laugh. Just you wait!" Sora declared, gripping the steering wheel tighter, not giving Axel any hints.

"Hothead? R-" Axel's whisper was cut off by Sora's cough, that drowned out his voice, making Axel catch on and stop talking. Kairi giggled, but stopped as well, thinking Sora could pull something on her too. His screws had become loose.

* * *

**[)={}-Atlantica-{}=(]**

"Is that what I think it is?" Kairi asked Sora, her voice laced with excitement, as she bounced around, eyes twinkling at the sight in front of her. Her hands were clasped together, in a prayer, as she hopped about the sand, staring in amazement.

"Yes Kairi, it's water." Riku dead-panned, rolling his eyes at her immature attitude. She acts as if it's been so long since they've seen water. They saw it at Neverland, right? And it was under the moonlight, so maybe Kairi's romantic aspiration she inherited from Selphie over the years would be satisfied just by that. But no, water in broad daylight, a scorching daylight to be exact, was far better. Riku would never understand girls, especially their weird love for random things.

As he thought about Kairi's fascination with the ocean, images filled his mind of a seashell he saw once. When he was restoring Roxas' memories, he remembered seeing this shell with someone before. Kairi said it was called a Thalassa Shell, one that brought good luck to sailors on their journeys across the seas, but this had some other significance. The girl he couldn't remember had a strange obsession with shells, much like Kairi's with the ocean, and Namine's with art. She'd go to Destiny Islands after some business she had to collect seashells. This one was the one she treasured. That much Riku could remember, until his mind went hazy, and blanked out. Shaking his head, he turned back to Sora and his "progress" with getting Axel out of the Gummi Ship.

"Come...on, Axel! Just...ugh, get out! It's just...water!" Sora grunted as he tried dragging Axel out of the Gummi Ship by his leg, which, wasn't working out so well. Axel struggled, gripping the seat for dear life, trying to kick Sora's hands away from his feet.

"No! I hate water!" Axel hollered from behind his shoulder, but his fingering lost place, resorting to Sora's victory in the tug-of-war, and Axel's literal downfall on top of Sora.

"HAHA! YES! I WIN!" Sora cheered, pumping his fist in the air, getting up from beneath Axel, dusting his shorts from the sand. Axel pouted, reluctantly standing up, and tried jumping back into the ship, until the doors closed. Axel glared at Riku, who held the starter in his hands, whistling, looking in another direction.

"I hate you Riku." Axel growled, crossing his arms, and Riku nodded, not caring too much. "Yeah, yeah, love you too." Riku replied aimlessly, tossing the starter to Sora, who caught them, smiling and giving Riku a thumbs up. Kairi rolled her eyes at the two; figures boys wouldn't try to help someone who had a phobia. Instead, they'd be stupid and take the "force him to participate against his will and not get over it" approach. She shook her head and walked over to Axel, putting a hand on his shoulder, supportively.

"Axel, why are you afraid of water?" She reminded Axel of his mother, except, his mother isn't younger than him, and he's never tried to kidnap his mother. Her gentle and supporting smile made him want to apologize a thousand times over for kidnapping her in the past to use for his own agenda, but he restrained himself in time, remembering the question._ Kairi...she's sure something else_, he thought, clearly amazed by her kindness.

Riku groaned, clearly annoyed with this little therapy session. They could be gathering intel on this world as they spoke, helping whoever the hell it was they had to help. But, instead, the alternative was teaching "Wittle Axie" how to swim. Riku rolled his eyes, watching Axel stiffen from Kairi's touch, his eyes closed, head drooping.

Meanwhile, Sora bounced about, immensely annoyed and excited to go visit Atlantica. He wanted to swim right now with his merman tail, but the group was occupied by Axel's childish fear of water. Humans were meant to float, not sink or get eaten by sharks, so what's his deal? Besides, last time Sora checked, he looked much older than a seven-year-old. A question popped up into Sora's mind as he leaned towards Riku.

"Isn't he thirty?" Sora asked, with all seriousness, but unfortunately, with all his loud glory. Riku busted out laughing, ignoring Axel's and Kairi's glares, while Sora flinched, keeping his mouth silent. Riku stopped laughing, realizing Kairi's glare was focused on him now, and watched silently along with Sora.

"Well, when my somebody- or should I say, I," he corrected himself, remembering he was no longer a nobody. "Was a teenager, about your ages, I lived in Radiant Garden-"

"RADIANT GARDEN? YOU?" Sora exclaimed in disbelief, eyes widened, and Riku shoved him lightly, not believing that he would forget that Radiant Garden was a huge place, so really, anyone could've lived there.

"Yes Sora, Axel must've lived there. It explains why we found him there. What, did you think he was just born from darkness?" Riku asked rhetorically, and Sora looked around, feeling completely stupid. That was exactly what he thought at the time, and he never got a chance to find an answer, so he stuck with that theory, until now.

"Can I continue?" Axel snapped, completely fed up with the interruptions. Nobody spoke up, so he took this as his cue to continue.

"Ok, as I was saying. I lived in Radiant Garden with my friend S-... my childhood friend...We went to the beach, and I was about to take a picture with him, when he accidentally bumped into me and I fell into the water. I got washed up in the waves and couldn't get back up to surface. Lucky for me someone saved me, otherwise..." he trailed off, leaving the others to toy around with the idea of what would happen.

Axel was lucky he didn't let the name of his former friend slip out, or else, there would be questions by the dozen. Of course, his small lie also got along good with them. Axel knew now that his "friend" didn't accidentally bump into him. That was the day after they joined those guys who helped them slip into darkness, and they went to the beach to celebrate. Axel knew, without a doubt, that he elbowed him into the water. He wanted to kill him off then. When they joined them, he only strung Axel along to kill of the others at Castle Oblivion so he could succeed in the rankings, leaving Axel behind in the dust. Even after their promise as kids, he never cared. Then again, Axel could only wish he was still around, so he could thank him personally for doing this to him; treating Axel like the pawn that got him the victory in the game of the life of nobodies. If it wasn't for him, Axel would've never met Roxas...the other person, at least he thought there was another, was blanking out on him.

(A/N: Mini-contest! Whoever gets the answer to who Axel's talking about first, I dedicate a one-shot to them! Not much, but I'll also R&R your stories. Generous, I know!)

"Alright, we've established Axel's fear of water. As wonderful as that is," Riku stopped his sarcastic fury, walking over to where Kairi was standing, and turning her body around to stare at the castle behind them. "Let's check this place out, alright? Sora, don't even think about protesting with, "Let's go swimming!", or I'll seriously hurt you." Riku threatened, pointing a finger at Sora, who sighed, following Riku up to the gates of the castle, along with Kairi and a jumpy Axel.

The castle was gorgeous, and the view was nothing short of the same. The castle had a giant white wall surrounding itself, keeping away any intruders, and a narrow gap was left for the gates, which had two young teens guarding them. The castle itself was huge, with dozens of windows on every side of the round towers, and peach-colored rooftops. Kairi hurried along, avoiding the urge to gape at the remarkable scenery, and decided to keep up with the boys.

The two "guards" were dressed in fancy attire, consisting of dress suits made of fine silk, which looked odd and out-of-place, considering they were on a beach...sort of.

"Dude, I can't believe that the freak actually left!" One of them, the brunette, exclaimed, shock relevant in his voice, as he turned to the other guard beside him.

The other, a dirty blonde, scoffed, looking annoyed with the comment. "I can. She was always a strange spaz, but I didn't know she was that weird. She's princess, why would she want to leave?" he replied, sounding annoyed with this girl, and the brunette nodded, agreeing with him as well.

Kairi rolled her eyes; the teenagers had no respect for authority, it seems. They would blatantly disrespect their princess when she wasn't around to hear them. Calling her a spaz and weird was completely uncalled for.

"Uh, what's wrong?" Sora asked ignorantly, and Riku almost punched him. If this was how Sora was solving the worlds' problems, meddling into their business and making their problems his, instead of focusing on finding keyholes and saving the people he has to worry about, then Riku was glad he was traveling with him this time. But, gathering intel was what Riku wanted, so he shouldn't complain.

"Where've you been, in a cave? It's Queen Ariel's daughter; she ran away. Took a boat and rowed away. Just because she was embarrassed at her birthday party last night." The dirty blonde complained, crossing his arms as he looked over at the castle. It seems he wouldn't say anything more on the matter, so his brunette friend added on.

"Uh, we're guarding the gates, since Queen Ariel's convinced she's been kidnapped. You can ask the Queen or King themselves, if you really didn't know. D-did you guys wanna go through?" the brunette asked carefully, nervous all of a sudden, and Sora was confused, while Riku and Axel smirked knowingly. Riku tapped Sora's shoulder and pointed to behind him, making him turn around in confusion.

Sora followed the brunette's gaze to Kairi, who was smiling awkwardly, looking uncomfortable with the hungry look in the teen's eyes. Sora's mood grew angry, glaring at the brunette, who got smaller a bit, intimidated by Sora's glare. Sora grabbed Kairi's hand, shocking her, and stared at the other brunette.

"Back. Off." Sora growled, and the brunette backed up, clearing the way for the group to enter. Axel chuckled, as did Riku, while the dirty blonde just noticed what was happening, and backed up, making way for them.

When the group was out of earshot, with Kairi blushing at the fact they were still holding hands, Sora mumbling curses at the shaggy brunette that liked Kairi, and Axel and Riku laughing all the way up to the castle, the dirty blonde and shaggy brunette sighed.

"Relax dude, she wasn't your type anyways." The dirty blonde assured his friend, who shrugged, looking mopey.

* * *

**\/\/\/Atlantica\/\/\/**

**~~~~::Ariel's Castle::~~~~**

"Sora!" a female's voice cried, her light heels clacking on the tiled floors, getting closer and closer to the group. Sora turned around to see The Queen herself, Ariel, rushing towards him with open arms. Sora smiled, opening his arms as well, allowing Ariel to run into them. Kairi looked hurt a bit, but kept quiet, letting them hug, as well as Riku, while Axel whistled. _Boy, Sora gets around_, he thought in amazement.

"Hey Ariel! I mean, Your Majesty! You got some explaining to do here!" Sora greeted, pulling back to look at Ariel, and he was surprised. She looked much more mature, of course, since she had a kid now, from what Sora's heard.

She laughed, nodding her agreement, as King Eric came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, smiling at Sora and the group. "I think you do too. And call me Ariel, please. We're friends." She requested, and looked behind Sora to the group, who looked at him, wishing for an explanation.

"Oh, right! Ariel, this is Riku, Axel, and Kairi! Guys, this is Ariel! We met the last two journeys. I helped her and Eric get together!" Sora boasted, holding his chin up high, only to be eventually crushed down by Riku.

"Now who's gonna help you and Kairi?" Riku taunted, smirking victoriously as he was greeted with Sora's glare, which didn't faze him. Sora turned back to Ariel and Eric, letting Riku go off easily.

"But, is everything alright? We heard what happened from the guards outside." Sora asked, and Ariel sighed, as well as Eric, who released Ariel from his hold. Ariel looked down, focusing on her feet, then looked back up at Sora and his group, her eyes glittering with sadness and fresh tears.

"Actually, I was hoping to see you again...You've helped me in the past. As selfish as this is..." she trailed off, holding her palm up to her face, wiping tears from her eyes, and Eric rushed to her side, giving Sora a hopeful look. Riku stepped up beside his best friend, nodding to them.

"Say no more. We'll go search for her." Riku assured the distressed queen, who nodded, not looking up, showing that she understood. Eric nodded to them, smiling lightly, before walking off down the hall of the floor, top to be exact, and down the winding staircases.

"H-her name's Melody. Please...just bring her back home. I should've listened to her..." Ariel murmured to herself before following Eric to the staircase, rushing off, holding the ends of her dress as she ran. Kairi frowned, feeling sorry for her, and lead the group down to the staircase as well, surprising the boys.

"Sure Kairi, you can lead us! Since you asked ever so nicely!" Axel called to her retreating form, and she rolled her eyes, not stopping.

"Shut up Axel!" she retorted, and he muttered something inaudible as he followed the group.

Sora was met with the sight of King Triton's head poking out from the waves, and looking stern, as usual. He didn't show his surprise to see the Keyblade Master, or his confusion regarding the group of people behind him. Instead, he just nodded slightly, not cracking one smile, and lifted his Triton from under the sea.

"Uhh, what's with the giant golden fork?" Axel asked Sora, nudging him with his elbow, and Riku shrugged, while Sora rolled his eyes.

"It's a triton. That's his all-powerful staff thing. I think he's gonna turn us into-" Sora explanation was cut off by King Triton's triton, zapping them with a blasting gold light, aimed at the group, who flashed white, ending up in the water.

Sora, Axel, Riku, and Kairi all began to tread water, but their legs felt numb. Looking down, each of them, aside from Sora, gasped in amazement, gazing down at their new tails. Riku's was a dark maroon color, while Axel's was a dark camoflaudge green, to his disappointment. Kairi's, however, was just the color she was happy to see; a bright pink, shining under the rays from the sun above the water. For a top, she wore a bra made from pale orange seashells, none of them looking like any of the ones she's seen at Destiny Islands. She was hoping for a Thalassa Shell bra, but it was better than no bra.

"Well, that was rude of him!" Kairi commented, shaking her head at King Triton's bluntness and to-the-point attitude.

"He is Ariel's father. So that makes that Melody girl his granddaughter, right?" Sora confirmed, eyes not moving from staring at Kairi, and she blushed from the attention.

Sora snapped out of his hypnotic trance, since he was staring at Kairi, and turned around to see Riku and Axel in each other's faces. Axel, looking petrified, while Riku was glaring at him.

"Get over it! You can't drown here! You're a merman, not a freaking guppy!" Riku mocked, looking ready to brawl with Axel, who looked the complete opposite.

"You know I'm afraid of the water!" Axel whined, crossing his arms, while Riku groaned, throwing his muscular arms up in the air, shaking his head; he gave up on Axel's fears.

"Guys, shut up for a damn second!" Sora ordered to the two, listening for any sounds in any direction, and heard a faint cackle, sounding rather old. Sora turned to look at Kairi, who nodded, signaling everyone to hurry along and swim towards the sound.

Axel reluctantly began swimming after, bringing the rear in the group, calling helplessly to the three ahead of him, hoping they would slow down, but to no prevail.

"Jackasses!" Axel yelled, swimming faster, trying to catch up to them.

After hours of random swimming, trying to figure out which way they were going, the group managed to agree on one direction. That is, everyone aside from Axel, who was still trailing, rapidly checking the water around him, eyes wide.

Just as Axel caught up to the group, he was confused momentarily to see them stop, but understood immediately at the sight of numerous sea creatures blocking their way. Jellyfish, Eels, many others, all by the dozen. Sora's, Riku's, and Kairi's keyblades popped out from their right hands in an instant, swimming towards the herd, ready to fight. Axel sighed, knowing he would be useless now, considering his Chakrams are fire based weapons, and they're currently underwater.

Just as he was beginning to feel completely helpless, he strained his eyes to see a figure and what looked like a fish behind a wall of ice, blocking the exit. Maneuvering his way past a blocking Kairi, he swam as fast as he could, realizing this could be trouble.

He stopped in front of the glass, cupping his hands around his eyes and putting his forehead on the ice, peering through it. He could barely make out a yellow fish with blue stripes, trying to wake up a girl with black hair in a ponytail and blue eyes that was sleeping. Axel mentally scolded himself; she wasn't sleeping! She had legs, not a tail, so she was obviously human.

"Hey! Umm, fish!" Axel tried to call to the fish, thinking by this point, anything and everything could talk. His hunch was right, apparently, because the fish looked at him, and it looked like he sighed in relief. Axel ignored the fact that he was scared out of his mind, especially since she was trapped with a bunch of water.

"ARIEL! HELP! MELODY'S GONNA DROWN IF WE DON'T GET OUT OF HERE!" Axel resisted the urge to grill the fish into fishsticks for mistaking him for the Queen, mostly because he had to help the girl. The Queen's daughter, Melody, was right in front of him, and drowning. Now was the time to do something, instead of having a cookout, with the little fish being the main course.

"It's not Ariel, you- ugh, whatever! Look, you need to bust down the ice!" Axel instructed, moving aside so the fish could ram it down. He noticed the fish was standing there, petrified by the thought, trembling.

"M-me? I-I can't! I'm just a puny little fish..." he sighed, his tail drooping, and Axel groaned. Of all times to admit something and feel bad about it, the fish chooses now, when somebody's kid is drowning. Axel didn't understand why he cared so much; he hardly even knew the people here. Then it hit him: this girl was drowning because of someone else's agenda involved her. They were much alike, somewhat. This sudden realization lit a flame inside Axel's heart, motivating him to get this fish going.

"Can't or won't? Look, Ariel's your friend. Would she want to hear how you let her daughter die because you couldn't break down some ice? No! So...BREAK THE FUCKING ICE!" Axel roared, making sure the fish was so terrified of his rage, he listened. And boy, did that work.

The fish charged, his tail shaking side to side, and bounced off of the glass, not doing any damage. He shook his head, the impact taking a toll on him. Axel put a hand to his forehead, shaking his head. _Wow, what a fail! _Axel held his laugh back, and forced a straight face, though it was beginning to slip. _Gotta stay on task_, he thought, determined to do so.

Just as Axel was about to look for something to break the wall down, he heard screaming and snapping. As he turned around, the sight was completely strange. A penguin was rushing away from a ferocious shark, snapping its jaws at the penguin, while a walrus was riding on the shark's back, trying to hold it back.

Startled, Axel side-stepped the shark, who rammed directly into the ice wall, shattering the wall to thousands of pieces. The result: the shark's teeth shattered into bits, and apparently dead, with the penguin crouched inside of its mouth. The walrus got off of the deceased shark's back, looking scared to death at the shark.

"Melody!" The fish's caterwaul broke the tension, making Axel hurry over to her and toss her over his shoulder, swimming up to the surface quickly.

Once Axel hit the shore, he gently put Melody down in the sand, sighing in relief. The fish sighed as well, and Axel resisted the urge to kill yet again. If Axel hadn't pep-talked him, he would've been cowering in the corner while the girl's body turned into a corpse.

"Thanks," The fish smiled up at Axel, and he nodded, not caring much for his gratitude. The penguin grumbled insults in the red-head's direction, annoyed with his attitude. His walrus friend gave Axel an embarrassed smile, nudging his penguin friend to stop.

"Ehehe, sorry about him. Tip is really nice once you get to know him!" The walrus explained, giving Axel a friendly smile, returned with a shrug.

"Don't speak for me Dash!" the penguin, Tip, whined, slapping Dash in the shoulder, and the two began to bicker silently, to Axel's annoyance.

"You have to defeat Morgana. She has the Triton, and with that, she'll rule the seas! And she has Ariel!" That got Axel alert and listening, nodding quickly to the small fish who gave him this important bit of information, and dove back into the water. If he lets this all happen, chances are, his friends won't make it out of there alive. Not to mention, he wanted to escape those idiots.

Axel made his way to whichever direction, looking for any sight of some suspicious activity. Well, he found it, by the looks of things.

In front of Axel, above the surface, was nothing but gray skies and icicles in ramp formations, surrounding a stone tower, with an octopus-like woman with black tentacles as legs and crazy white hair, cackling madly to the black clouds. All around Axel were mermen and mermaids bowing down to the said octopus woman. Even Sora, Kairi, and Riku were bowing down, much to their reluctance. Riku's eyes were filled with venom, Kairi's closed, and Sora's in a panic, focusing on someone else.

To Axel's surprise, that someone was Melody, who was scaling the side of the stone tower bravely, occasionally glancing down at the fall she may experience. Axel silently encouraged her, twitching his hand upward, and she nodded, understanding his signal.

"Nothing can stop me!" the octopus woman, whom Axel was now noticing is probably the Morgana the fish was talking about, declared, waving around the "golden fork" Axel saw before in the hands of King Triton. Axel gulped; he was gonna regret this, chances are.

"Except me!" Axel called out to her, and he raised his arms up over his head, summoning his Chakrams, the flames blazing in his hands. _Oh fire, how I missed thee!_

Morgana threw her head back and began hooting with laughter, narrowing her eyes into vicious slits, making Axel wince.

"Foolish mistake!" Morgana mocked, pointing her Triton at Axel, ready to aim and fire. Axel was about to dive back down and try again when someone called his name. Axel turned around to see Riku, eyes focused on him, gripping his Way To Dawn in his right hand. Riku nodded to it, and releasing it, making the weapon float to Axel.

"Link...Them..." Riku muttered, keeping his voice low, in case Morgana heard him. Axel nodded dumbly, not knowing what he was talking about, but complied, thinking of how to "link" the two weapons together.

Suddenly, in a burst of darkness and flames, the weapons were linked together by a chain made entirely of the two elements. Without needing directions from Axel, they charged at Morgana, flying directly to the top of the stone tower, and stunned her, making contact with her stomach. Letting out a shrill yelp, her attack missed, aiming towards a rock sticking out from the waves. Axel made a mental note to thank Riku later for the help. _But how did he know?_

Melody lunged for the Triton from behind Morgana, swiping it from her, and Axel pumped his fist, but stopped when he realized she was up there with a freak alone, defenseless.

"You! Just what do you think you're going to do with THAT?" Morgana questioned with a low, threatening tone, and Melody laid on her back, turning her head to look at the fall again. Her eyes lit up with defiance as she turned back to Morgana, sitting up a bit, clutching the Triton in a defensive maneuver.

"Stay back!" she threatened, pointing the opposite end (non-sharp side), at Morgana, and she laughed, amused at the petty threat.

"Ahaha! The wrong end, sweetheart!" The last word was spat out with mockery, and Morgana wrapped one of her tentacles around Melody's ankle, beginning to pull her towards her, turning her upside down, and giving Melody the opportunity of stabbing one of her tentacles (with the sharp end!).

Morgana yowled in pain as she released her grip on Melody, grabbing the tentacle that was stabbed. Melody leaned closer towards the end and held out her hand, the one holding the Triton, to Morgana's dismay.

"Grandfather...I think this belongs to you!" Melody tossed the Triton into the air, making it spiral towards the sea, and Morgana lunged forward, holding her hand out to grab it, and knocked Melody over the edge in the process. Luckily, Melody was saved by Dash, who played the part of cushion to catch her. The Triton ended up near Axel, who threw the Triton back to its rightful owner, King Triton.

"Never again will you or your's frighten my family. There will be no escape for you...ever!" With that said, King Triton fired his Triton at Morgana, freezing her into a block of ice, as she plummeted into the sea, along with the stone tower and icicle ramps, each toppling over the other. The clouds also began to clear up and the sky turning its original pale blue color.

Sora, Kairi, and Riku swam towards Axel, each with proud smiles on their faces, while the family of Eric, Ariel, Melody, and King Triton reunited on the icey surface a few feet away.

"Axel, you've conquered your fear of water!" Kairi exclaimed happily, clasping her hands together, and Axel nodded, a smug grin on his face.

"Yup!" he popped the p on the yup, and Riku rolled his eyes, still having a slight smile on his face.

"Let's hope you conquer your habit of being a conceted ass!" Riku teased, and Axel stuck his tongue out at him, making Kairi and Sora laugh at his immaturity. Axel turned to Sora with a questioning glance, since he might know what happened the best out of the three best friends. Sora understood immediately what he was asking.

"They hid Melody's origin of being a mermaid from her, so she wanted answers. Morgana "provided" those answers and tricked her into stealing the Triton from Atlantica, and let her be a mermaid for a while. Everything's ok now though." Sora finished his explanation with a good review, smiling lightly and waving to Ariel, who smiled, then looked back at her daughter, who smiled at her grandfather.

"I have a better idea!" she told him, grabbing his Triton and aiming for her castle, more specifically, the wall blocking the castle from the sea. In a flash, the wall was brought down, everyone from the castle outside, as if they were expecting this.

Sora smiled, and splashed water in every direction, hitting the group, and they glared at him playfully.

"This was the fun part I was talking about! We're gonna sing now!" Sora announced, and sure enough, he was right. Everyone began bursting out into song, jumping into the water, singing and laughing and smiling.

"Now land and sea can be joined together in harmony!" Melody declared, and her statement was voiced back with a roar of approval from both mermen and mermaids, and humans, all throwing their hands up, starting to join together, in a perfect harmony.

The group almost forgot about the trouble they went through to get to the point of celebration, and they joined in, laughing and singing with everyone.

* * *

_~ I hear the music playing! _  
_It's swinging and it's swaying! _  
_A little rhapsody! _  
_Today we're so delighted! _  
_Today we're all united!_  
_Here on the land and sea! _

_I think the sails are sailing! _  
_Even the whales are wailing! _  
_They're swimming fancy-free! _  
_We're feeling better now! _  
_We sing together now! _  
_Here on the land and sea! _

_Move your fins and move your feet!_  
_Life is sweet, life is grand!_  
_Though we rhumbas with the bass bass brand!_

_Have been through stormy weather!_

_Now we can sing together!_

_Now we can sing together!_  
_In perfect harmony!_  
_We're feelin' better now!_  
_We sing together now!_  
_Here on the land and sea!_

_Those on land sing... _  
_Those below sing... _  
_Life is sweet, as sweet can be! _  
_On the land and on the sea!_

_We're feeling better now!_  
_We sing together now! _  
_Here on the land and sea! ~

* * *

_

As they were singing, Sora's keyblade suddenly appeared in his hand, pointing to the locket around Melody's neck, with her name engraved in it. The locket was completely gold, in the shape of a seashell, and hanging from a gold chain. Sora turned to look at the group; Kairi was laughing with Ariel, Axel was bickering with Tip and Dash, and Riku was conversing with Eric. They nodded, knowing what he had to do now.

Sora aimed at the necklace, startling Melody, but she didn't protest, afraid he would aim for her instead of her locket, and the keyhole had been sealed after the process had been finished. In a flash of light, Sora found himself holding a new keyblade in his palms, and he gaped at it in awe. It looked exactly like the Triton, but it had the key shape at the end, instead of the sharp ends the real Triton had, and a keychain of bubbles at the part where Sora holds the keyblade.

"That's called the Heart of Atlantica. It's yours. Take good care of it." King Triton told Sora, with a new hint of warmth in his voice, and Sora smiled, nodding. He sighed, realizing he had to go now, and the group nodded, not looking as disappointed as him.

* * *

**_:O-Gummi Ship-O:_**

"So, you guys should bow down to me for saving you guys!" Axel suggested, smirking as he leaned back in his seat, awaiting their next landing. Riku scoffed, followed by Sora and Kairi.

"In your dreams." Sora retorted, starting up the Gummi Ship, and blasting off throught space, looking for the next world to land on. He could hear Axel moan in defeat, and he could hear his foot stomp on the Gummi Ship floor.

"Nice, bow down to the old sea hag and not your friend who saved your asses? Love you guys too." Axel complained overdramatically, putting a hand to his forehead, and Kairi chuckled, turning to look at him.

"Oh save it. Melody saved us; you were just the distraction." Kairi reminded him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but who saved Melody? Oh, that's right, ME!" Axel snapped, snapping his fingers in her face, and she turned around, shrugging her shoulders, and Riku turned around to face Axel.

"That's great and all, but nobody cares too much. Just shut up and take a nap or something until we land at the next world, okay Hothead?" Riku turned back around, not waiting for Axel's reply, and thought back on the recent events.

What really shocked him, however, was the fact that he knew that the group could link their weapons together. He didn't recall ever learning this from King Mickey or DiZ, yet, he did. No memories came into his head, aside from ones he doesn't remember having. The same girl he saw back at the islands came into his head, and he couldn't stop the overflow. He gripped his forehead, wincing from the pain of the memories, and he snapped out of it when he felt a delicate hand rest on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Kairi blinking at him, a look of concern etched on her face.

"You okay, Riku?" she asked, and he nodded, shaking his head, hoping to clear his thoughts. He turned his head to face the window, staring blankly at the next world, a strange toy-box shaped world, lost in his own thoughts.

Seems like this world had only a bit of fun. But what about the next one? Will Sora find a new favorite world? And who's the girl Riku can't stop thinking about? Are they prepared for the strange "people" they will meet on the next world?

* * *

_- GIANT spoiler for the next world. Aha, guess! Oh yeah, that contest-thingy I threw in there; there's gonna be a ton of them, so don't worry to those who don't win._

_This was an Axel-centric kind of, so yeah. Some worlds will center around other people too. Still open for ideas and stuff, so feel free to shout any out in reviews!_

_Yeah, I decided to throw in some new stuff, like linking weapons together. I'm so smart! It was incredibly hard to remember this movie, so I watched it again on my VCR (yeah I still have one, wanna fight about it?)._

_I loved this world and the song, plus the movie was really awesome, even though it can't compare to the original!_

_Again, leave reviews! And check out the video I made! I dedicated it to everyone on FanFiction! Even the people I don't know!_

_Love you guys! One last thing: LEAVE REVIEWS! BYE! I may start responding to reviews soon! -_


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